Parade: Members of the Mancha Verde samba school at Sao Paulo's Sambadrome
Va-Va voom: Dancers from Vai-vai samba school take centrestage in the parade at San Paulo.
The five days of street parties, balls and parades traditionally shut down most of Latin America's biggest country, luring millions of locals and tourists to celebrations across the country. Rio alone is expected to attract 900,000 tourists and generate £420 million for the local economy this year.
The different carnivals, which take place in Sao Paulo, Pernambuco, Minas Gerais as well as Rio and Salvador and numerous other cities, each showcase their own type of music such as samba, samba-reggae and funk samba. Last night parades began in Sao Paulo's specially built Sambadrome, a space designed for parades.
Got rhythm: a queen of the drums of the Rosas de Ouro samba school performs during the first night of Sao Paulo's Carnival parades
Technicolor samba: dancers from the Rosas de Ouro samba school perform in Sao Paulo in the small hours of this morning
Fab for a parade: members of the Academicos do Tatuape samba school perform in Sao Paulo while this dancer from the Rosas de Ouro samba school is dwarfed by his float
Piano men: members of the Mancha Verde samba school wow the audience in Sao Paulo's Sambadrome
In flight: the samba groups bid to outperform each other, and carnivals in the regions of Brazil showcase different styles of samba linked to their local heritage
The annual event takes place in the days leading up to Lent, the 40-day period before Easter. It began yesterday with the the mayor of Rio de Janeiro symbolically handing over the keys of the city to King Momo, the ceremonial figurehead of Brazil's best-known Carnival celebrations.
But this year's festivities took place under the pall of the recent nightclub fire that killed 238 people in the southern city of Santa Maria. Sixty-five others are still hospitalised.
Charge: after the Sao Paulo festivities last night and tonight, parades in Rio kick off on Sunday
Weird and wonderful: members of the samba school Rosas de Ouro Special Group at the Sambadrome
Big band: drummers from the Mancha Verde samba school make some noise
Energy: carnival marks the run-up to Lent, historically a few days of indulgence before the period of abstinence
Come on, boys: the five days of parades, balls and street parties are expected to attract millions of locals and tourists
Shout it out: the overwhelming popularity of the carnival events boosts Brazil's economy to the tune of £420 million
Walk like an Egyptian: revellers' costumes have become iconic in the way Brazil markets itself to the world
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