Carnival around the world

All across the globe, revelers took to the streets over the weekend to celebrate Carnival.

Spain has one of the most ancient carnivals in Europe, dating from before the Roman empire. Companies of Joaldunak (cowbells) made up of residents of two towns, Ituren and Zubieta, parade the streets costumed in sandals, lace petticoats, sheepskins around the waist and shoulders, coloured neckerchiefs, conical caps with ribbons and a hyssop of horsehair in their right hands and cowbells hung across their lower back.

In Brazil, merrymakers take to the streets in hundreds of open-air "bloco" parties during Rio's over-the-top Carnival, the highlight of the year for many.

Bolivia's carnival celebrations is a 4-day festival where local people get dressed in costumes and the streets get filled by orchestras and bands, traditional dances and bullfights.

Below is a gallery of this year's celebrations. 

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Spain Carnival

A reveler, dressed as "Diablos de Luzon" or Luzon Devil's, covered in oil and soot carrying bull horns on his head and cowbells on a belt representing the devil, and others dressed as "Mascaritas" take part in the carnival celebration in the small village of Luzon, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. Preserved records from the 14th century document Luzon's carnival, but the real origin of the tradition could be much older. Carnival festivals are celebrated in their own way around hundreds of villages in Spain. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Brazil Carnival

A performer from the Academicos do Grande Rio samba school parades during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Mauro Pimentel)

Brazil Carnival

A dancer performs during the Carmelitas street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers take to the streets in hundreds of open-air "bloco" parties during Rio's over-the-top Carnival, the highlight of the year for many. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Bolivia Carnival

A couple in costume dances during the start of the Andean carnival in Caquiaviri, Bolivia, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017. Caquiaviri opens the carnival celebrations in Bolivia with a 4-day festival where local people get dressed in costumes and the streets get filled by orchestras and bands, traditional dances and bullfights. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Spain Traditional Carnival

Two members of ''Mamuxarro'' pose for a photo as they take part in an ancient rural carnival in the small village of Unanua, northern Spain, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017. The Mamuxarros are figures dressed in white with a red sash around the waist and a metal mask to cover their faces, plus a large coloured headscarf covering the head and neck. They carry big sticks and threaten and hit anyone they find in their path. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

Brazil Carnival

Contestants prepare for the Gay Glam Ball at the Salgueiro samba school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb 17, 2017. The third Glam Gay Ball 2017 took place just one week ahead of the start of the carnival in the city. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Spain Carnival

A group of Joaldunaks called Zanpantzar, pose for onlookers before they take part in the Carnival between the Pyrenees villages of Ituren and Zubieta, northern Spain, Monday, Jan. 30, 2017. In one of the most ancient carnivals in Europe, dating from before the Roman empire, companies of Joaldunak (cowbells) made up of residents of two towns, Ituren and Zubieta, parade the streets costumed in sandals, lace petticoats, sheepskins around the waist and shoulders, coloured neckerchiefs, conical caps with ribbons and a hyssop of horsehair in their right hands and cowbells hung across their lower back. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

Brazil Carnival

A reveler enjoys the "Ceu na Terra" or Heaven on Earth street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. Merrymakers take to the streets in hundreds of open-air "bloco" parties during Rio's over-the-top Carnival, the highlight of the year for many. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Germany Carnival

In this photo taken Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017 witches of the Waldkircher Kandelhexen witches' club look out of windows as they prepare for celebrating the traditional witches' sabbath at the market square of Waldkirch, southern Germany, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. The members of the Krakeelia carnival club celebrate their annual witches' sabbath, which takes place on the Saturday before Rose Monday. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Lithuania Shrovetide

Revellera wearing traditional carnival masks take part in Shrovetide celebrations, in Rumsiskes village, some 89 kilometres (56 miles) north of Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. Shrovetide is a traditional Lithuanian holiday marking the end of winter, one of the merriest events in Lithuania. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

Bolivia Carnival

Dancers perform the traditional "Diablada" or Dance of the Devils, during the Carnival of Oruro, in Oruro, Bolivia, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. The carnival is a religious festival dating back more than 200 years in an ongoing pagan-Catholic blend of religious practice in the region, and is one of UNESCO's Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Greece Naxos Carnival

In this photo taken on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017 young men and women with faces painted to resemble black-and-white masks wear white sheets and hold torches on long poles take part at the Torch Parade on the Greek island of Naxos. About 2,000 people took part at the famous, and very popular, Lampadiforia (Torch Parade). (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Brazil Carnival

A performer from the Salgueiro samba school parades during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Photos edited by Petros Giannakouris

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