Carnival and Mardi Gras Around the World

Workers hold a giant figure showing the King of Carnival during preparations for the carnival parade in Nice, France, February 11, 2016.

A reveler celebrates in front of the cathedral during the start of the Women's Street Carnival in Cologne, Germany.

A man wearing a bird mask walks in Saint Mark's Square in Venice, Italy at the start of Carnival.

A gondola captain dressed as a harlequin during the famous boat parade through the canals of Venice, Italy.

The traditional Carnival masks for sale in shops in Venice, Italy. 

Two people dress as Leonardo da Vinci's painting 'Mona Lisa' in St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy.

A performer from the Mangueira samba school parades in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

A masked reveler poses in San Marco Piazza during the Venice Carnival.

People after a flour fight in Laza Village, Spain.

A participant is hit by an orange during an annual carnival battle in the northern Italian town of Ivrea.

A nominee for queen of the Carnival of Santa Cruz shows off her outfit on the main stage in Santa Cruz, Tenerife, an island of Spain.