Carnival season is under way across Europe and the Americas. These pre-Lent festivals, often a blend of local pagan and Catholic traditions, usher out the winter and welcome in spring. Gathered here are images of carnivals around the world, including images from Spain, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Portugal, France, and Bolivia.
Carnival 2017 Around the World
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A performer wears a wooden mask during the traditional Celtic carnival, "Caretos," on February 27, 2017 in Lamego, Portugal. During the festivities, people wear special wooden masks depicting queens, kings, evil spirits, hunters, and satirical versions of public figures made from alder trees by local carpenters. #
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A float featuring President Donald Trump drives in the annual Rose Monday parade on February 27, 2017, in Mainz, Germany. Political satire is a traditional cornerstone of the annual parades, and the ascension of Donald Trump, the rise of the populist far-right across Europe, and the upcoming national elections in Germany provided rich fodder for float designers this year. #
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People throw fruit at each other in the traditional "battle of the oranges" during the carnival in Ivrea, Italy, on February 26, 2017. During the event, which marks the people's rebellion against tyrannical lords who ruled the town in the Middle Ages, revelers parading on floats represent guards of the tyrant, while those on foot the townsfolk. #
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A reveler, dressed to represent the devil as "Diablos de Luzon," and others dressed as "Mascaritas," take part in the carnival celebration in the small village of Luzon, Spain, on February 25, 2017. Preserved records from the 14th century document Luzon's carnival. #
Daniel Ochoa de Olza / AP -
Carnival revelers dressed as "Peliqueiros" run along a street in the village of Laza, Spain, on February 26, 2017. "Peliqueiros," or ancient tax collectors, pursued villagers through the streets ringing their cowbells and hitting villagers with their sticks. #
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People revel in mud after the traditional "Bloco da Lama" or "Mud Street" carnival party, in Paraty, Brazil, on February 25, 2017. Legend has it the "bloco" was born in 1986 after local teens hiking in a nearby mangrove forest smeared themselves with mud to discourage mosquitoes and then wandered through Paraty. #
Mauro Pimentel / AP -
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The float of the King of Carnival is paraded through the crowd during the 133rd Nice Carnival parade, the first major event since the city was attacked during Bastille Day celebrations last year in Nice, France, on February 11, 2017. #
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Witches of the Waldkircher Kandelhexen witches' club look out of windows as they prepare for celebrating the traditional Witches' Sabbath at the market square of Waldkirch, Germany, on February 25, 2017. #
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The winner of the 2016 edition of the "Festa delle Marie" (Marie contest), Claudia Marchiori performs as the Angel of the new carnival on February 19, 2017, in Venice. The "Flight of the Angel" is a traditional event that goes back to the Serenissima period. #
Alberto Pizzoli / AFP / Getty -
A young "Federahannes," a jester figure from Rottweil, Germany, participates in the "Narrensprung" (jester jump) parade. About 4,000 jesters paraded through the city among thousands of spectators. #
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People dressed as the traditional carnival characters "Zaku Zaharrak," or old sack, as they take part during a carnival parade in the small Pyrenean village of Lesaka, Spain, on February 26, 2017. After the sun set, the Zaku Zaharrak characters covered their faces with white handkerchiefs, stuffed themselves into sacks full of straw, and held a stick with an inflated animal's bladder used to hit people as they paraded for hours trough the village. #
Alvaro Barrientos / AP -
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Performers from the Portuguese village of Podence dressed in a traditional costume during annual carnival festivities on February 26, 2017, in Macedo de Cavaleiros, Portugal. Revelers, known as "Caretos" wear brass or wooden masks and dress up in costumes made of dyed wool and with cowbells in their belts. #
Octavio Passos / Getty -
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