Ten carnivals worth crossing an ocean for, from the Sambadrome to the streets of Cologne, ranked on scale, tradition and how far a visitor can join in. Mapped, with the usual dates.
Every carnival claims to be the biggest. We ranked these ten on the carnival itself: its scale, how deep its tradition runs, and how much a visitor can take part rather than watch. All of them peak in the days before Lent, which in 2027 means early February.
The largest carnival on earth, built around two nights of samba-school parades in the Sambadrome. Buy a costume from a school and you march in it; skip the stands and the free street blocos fill every neighbourhood.
Brazil's great street carnival: six days of trios elétricos, trucks carrying live bands through the crowd. Buy an abadá to dance inside a bloco's rope, or join the free crowd outside it on the Barra-Ondina circuit.
The carnival built for joining: buy a costume from a mas band and you parade with thousands across the Queen's Park Savannah stage. Start before dawn on Monday at J'ouvert, in old clothes, mud and paint.
Carnival Saturday opens with the Galo da Madrugada, listed by Guinness as the largest carnival bloc on earth. Then cross to Olinda next door, where giant puppets and frevo bands climb the colonial hills, free to all.
A UNESCO-listed carnival since 2003, where Colombia's Caribbean folk dances, from cumbia to the congo, hold the street. The Batalla de Flores opens it on the Vía 40; grandstand seats sell out first.
Not one parade but weeks of them, as krewes roll floats down St. Charles Avenue and throw beads to the crowd. Watching is free, and on Fat Tuesday itself half the city wears a costume, so pack one.
A pilgrimage in dance, UNESCO-listed since 2001: tens of thousands of dancers cover a four-kilometre route to the shrine of the Virgin of the Socavón. The Diablada, the devil dance, leads; book a stand seat, since the entrada runs into the night.
The masked carnival, revived in 1979 and still about dressing up more than dancing. Watch the Volo dell'Angelo descend from the bell tower over Piazza San Marco, then hire a costume and join the masks in the alleys.
The carnival where everyone takes part: the season opens at 11:11 on 11 November and peaks from the Thursday to the Monday before Lent. Come in costume, learn to shout Alaaf, and stand on the Rosenmontag route for the floats.
The longest carnival, running about 40 days, with murga choirs satirising the year on neighbourhood stages. Its great night is the Desfile de Llamadas, when candombe drum troupes parade through Barrio Sur and Palermo.
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