The world's 5 best carnivals

One of the most elegant and extravagant carnival in the world, the Venice Carnival is all about porcelain masks and fancy dress inspired by the 18th century. Its origins can be traced all the way back to 1162, when Venice, then a Republic, would celebrate its victory over the Patriarch of Aquileia. Since then, the spirit of the event remained but evolved over time. It is now famous worldwide for a traditional atmosphere and starts every year two weeks before Lent, lasting for 10 days and uniting hundreds of people. In 2024, the carnival runs from January 27 until February 13.

Probably the most famous of them all, Rio's Carnival starts five days before Lent and lasts for five days with approximately 3 million people taking part in the event. If masks are a big part of the atmosphere for Venice, the very heart of Rio’s Carnival is samba, bringing together 200 Samba Schools and 300 Bands, playing everywhere around the city and competing with each other. The main samba schools have their parades happening in the Sambadrome, while the streets also fill up with music, parties and people dancing all over the city. The decorated floats, colourful costumes and sparkling bikinis are bound to put you in the mood and make you want to party all night! In 2024, the carnival runs from February 9 until February 17.

Mardi Gras means ‘Fat Tuesday’ in French and is a celebration of food and drinks before the fasting period of Lent. So, precisely two weeks before Mardi Gras, Carnival comes to the city of New Orleans, with jazz music taking the streets, parades dedicated to mythological characters such as Bacchus and King Zulu, late-night bar hopping, themed floats and live music. The traditional cake, which is only available during that time, is baked with a plastic baby inside and, according to tradition, the person who gets the baby will have to buy the next cake. In 2024, visitors can attend Mardi Gras celebrations on February 13th.

Famously taking place every last Sunday and Monday of August, which is very much out of carnival season, Notting Hill Carnival is considered one of the biggest in Europe, gathering two million people and celebrating the Caribbean community and their undeniable cultural impact. With booming sound systems, you will find people dancing in the streets of London eating loads of jerk chicken.

Every year, in the days preceding Ash Wednesday, Binche Carnival is an unusual and unique celebration due to the appearance of the traditional masked men (known as Gilles) going around the city throwing oranges on people (supposedly for good luck) and creating chaos. The carnival has even been declared a 'Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity’ by UNESCO!