Top 10 Best Carnival Celebrations Worldwide

The Caribbean's greatest party blends calypso, soca, and steel pan into a two-day explosion of color and rhythm that many argue is more authentic and energetic than Rio's commercialized spectacle.

Twelve centuries of masked elegance along the canals create an atmosphere of mystery and aristocratic grandeur that no other carnival can replicate, though critics say it has become a tourist photo op.

Europe's largest street festival celebrates Afro-Caribbean culture across two days in West London with 2 million attendees, massive sound systems, and jerk chicken stalls stretching for miles.

UNESCO-recognized as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage, Barranquilla's carnival fuses Indigenous, African, and European traditions into Colombia's most important cultural event.

Germany's "fifth season" kicks off on 11/11 at 11:11 AM and peaks with Rose Monday parades where 1.5 million costumed revelers consume rivers of Kölsch beer in organized chaos.

Weeks of krewe parades, second-line marches, and neighborhood celebrations build to Fat Tuesday in a city where carnival is not a tourist event but a way of life woven into the cultural fabric.

This UNESCO World Heritage carnival features the iconic Gilles — masked figures in wax masks and ostrich-feather hats who throw blood oranges at spectators in a tradition dating to the 14th century.

Bolivia's UNESCO-listed carnival is a 20-hour procession of 28,000 dancers performing the Diablada — a dramatic reenactment of the battle between good and evil rooted in Andean and Catholic traditions.

The second-largest carnival in the world after Rio features the spectacular Carnival Queen competition, with costumes weighing up to 200 kilograms and a month-long celebration rivaling anything in the Americas.

The Caribbean's greatest party blends calypso, soca, and steel pan into a two-day explosion of color and rhythm that many argue is more authentic and energetic than Rio's commercialized spectacle.

Twelve centuries of masked elegance along the canals create an atmosphere of mystery and aristocratic grandeur that no other carnival can replicate, though critics say it has become a tourist photo op.

Europe's largest street festival celebrates Afro-Caribbean culture across two days in West London with 2 million attendees, massive sound systems, and jerk chicken stalls stretching for miles.

UNESCO-recognized as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage, Barranquilla's carnival fuses Indigenous, African, and European traditions into Colombia's most important cultural event.

Germany's "fifth season" kicks off on 11/11 at 11:11 AM and peaks with Rose Monday parades where 1.5 million costumed revelers consume rivers of Kölsch beer in organized chaos.

Weeks of krewe parades, second-line marches, and neighborhood celebrations build to Fat Tuesday in a city where carnival is not a tourist event but a way of life woven into the cultural fabric.

This UNESCO World Heritage carnival features the iconic Gilles — masked figures in wax masks and ostrich-feather hats who throw blood oranges at spectators in a tradition dating to the 14th century.

Bolivia's UNESCO-listed carnival is a 20-hour procession of 28,000 dancers performing the Diablada — a dramatic reenactment of the battle between good and evil rooted in Andean and Catholic traditions.

The second-largest carnival in the world after Rio features the spectacular Carnival Queen competition, with costumes weighing up to 200 kilograms and a month-long celebration rivaling anything in the Americas.