Brazil Carnival Festival 2011

Thousands of Brazilians and foreign tourists are partying in the streets of Rio de Janeiro, where the city's famed Carnival festivities are in full swing.Carnival parades have been taking place since Sunday, with fireworks and cheers of revelers who have been celebrating for days. Several processions have been staged, featuring extravagant floats with celebrities and scantily dressed bejeweled dancers from several competing samba schools.


A fire in early February ripped through warehouses in Rio De Janeiro where three elite samba groups were preparing for the carnival, incinerating more than 8,000 of the feather and glitter costumes as well as many of the massive, meticulously decorated floats.The five days of festivities, which began Friday, are expected to attract 760,000 visitors, spending £350m, in capital alone.