Rio de Janeiro’s world-famous samba school parades held their grand finale as the five-day-long Carnival celebration ends on ash Wednesday.
Samba schools paraded giant floats starting Friday night, singing and dancing past masses of spectators at the city’s Sambadrome. Some members of the schools hung upside down while others flew in giant butterfly costumes.
A float from the Beija Flor samba school rides through the Sambadrome during Carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
On Sunday, a tropical deluge soaked feather-clad dancers and wildly costumed musicians, dumping rain on tennis star Rafael Nadal as he made a cameo appearance.
The samba schools were competing for the best performance, which will be announced later in the week.
Carnival also exploded at hundreds of alcohol-soaked street parties, where one reveler brought two costume-clad dogs that watched the party from a baby stroller. Another reveler dressed up as Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff and a group of friends dressed up as nuns. A family in angel and devil costumes peered from their homes’ windows to watch a “bloco” street party go by. Take a look at these pictures I was able shoot with my new camera from shootingauthority.
A man dives into a puddle of mud during the traditional “Bloco da Lama” or “Mud Block” carnival party, in Paraty, Brazil, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
In the nearby town of Paraty, people played at the “Mud Block” carnival party. Legend has it the tradition 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. The party grew year after year, but revelers eventually were banned from parading in the colonial downtown after shopkeepers complained pristine white walls were stained with the hard-to-remove mud.
Click any image to launch the Brazil’s Carnival 2015 gallery.
Revelers pack the streets of Santa Teresa during the ‘Ceu na Terra’, or Heaven on earth, carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Revelers perform during the ‘Bloco Virtual’ carnival parade at Leme Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
A couple kiss after the ‘Bloco Virtual’ carnival parade on the sands of Leme Beach, where the parade took place, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
A performer from the Portela samba school smiles during the Carnival parade at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Feb. 16, 2015. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Vila Isabel samba school performers parade on a float during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Feb. 16, 2015. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Performers from the Vila Isabel samba school parade during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Feb. 16, 2015. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
A reveler smiles during the Banda de Ipanema carnival block party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Dancers from the Vila Maria samba school perform on a float during a carnival parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Drum queen Juliana Alves from the Unidos da Tijuca samba school parades during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. Rio de Janeiro’s world-famous samba school parades held their grand finale as the five-day-long Carnival celebration came to an end on Tuesday morning. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
A child cheers Beija Flor samba school performers during the Carnival parade in the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
A Beija Flor samba school performer parades on a float during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Performers from the Imperatriz Leopoldinense samba school parade during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A reveler from the Sao Clemente samba school poses for a photo as he waits for the start of the Carnival parade at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Feb. 16, 2015. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Performers from the Sao Clemente samba school parade acknowledge the crowds watching the Carnival parade at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Feb. 16, 2015. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Performers from the Portela samba school, parade during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Feb. 16, 2015. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
A performer from the Unidos da Tijuca samba school parades during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
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