Dancers prepare at backstage before a drag queen competition during carnival festivities in Las Palmas on the Spanish Canary Island of Gran Canaria, late March 4, 2011. #

Naomi Cabrera Pulido, wearing a creation called "A hundred years of history" by Spanish designer Leo Martinez, reacts after being crowned queen in the annual carnival queen election gala at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, March 2, 2011. #

A dog dressed in costume parades through the French Quarter during the Krewe of Barkus Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Sunday, February 27, 2011. The parade of dogs and their owners, a twist on the Krewe of Bacchus, benefits animal welfare organizations. #

Carnival masks in the likeness of Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi sit on a table at a mask making factory in Sao Goncalo, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Friday February 18, 2011. #

Dancers perform on a float during the 34th annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade in Sydney on March 5, 2011. Hundreds of thousands lined Oxford Street in Sydney on March 5 for the colourful and irreverent Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, which this year was set to highlight marriage equality. #

A mock plane flies toward a parade float, to set on fire the King of Carnival in the village of Orchomenos in central Greece on March 6, 2011.The burning of carnival's King marks the end of the Carnival season and the start of the 40 days of lent until the Orthodox Easter. #

A reveller of Vai-Vai samba school dances atop a float during the opening night of parades at the Sambadrome, as part of Carnival celebrations in Sao Paulo early on March 5, 2011. Brazil's Carnival kicked off on the eve with millions of people taking to the streets of the northeastern city of Salvador de Bahia to dance and party, effectively putting the nation on a week-long hiatus. #

Revellers wear masks during the traditional Buso Carnival in Mohacs, southern Hungary March 6, 2011. At the Buso Carnival, which lasts for six days, locals bury the winter and party before the start of lent. According to legend, the masks helped locals scare away the Turks in the 16th century. #

Silvia Bianchetti performs the traditional "Flight of the Angel", a centuries-old ritual which marks the official beginning of Venice's Carnival celebrations, hanging from a cable in St. Mark's square, Venice, Italy, Sunday Feb, 27, 2011. #

Rasta performs at the finals of the annual International Soca Monarch at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain March 5, 2011. The competition is held every Carnival Friday, and participants compete for one of two titles, "International Soca Monarch" or "International Groovy Soca Monarch". The Soca music genre is native to Trinidad and Tobago. #

A girl cracks a whip practicing for her group's performance at a park along the waterfront - the parade staging area - as Haitians participate in the first day of the Port-au-Prince Carnival celebration, March 6, 2011 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Last year's celebration was canceled due to the devastating January 12 earthquake. #

A masked reveler performs during the National Carnival celebrations in Jacmel, a small port city southeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday Feb 27, 2011. Jacmel's carnival is known for its papier-mache masks representing animals, world figures or local politicians. #

People take part in a parade of the 127th Nice carnival, on February 22, 2010 in Nice, southeastern France. The 127th edition of the Nice's Carnival, celebrating the "Mediterranean King", will run until March 8, 2011. #

Revelers join in the Ceu na Terra or Heaven on Earth street parade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday February 26, 2011. Hundreds walk along a yellow tramcar that transports the Carnival orchestra in the historic Santa Teresa neighborhood. The blocos or free street parades usher in Brazil's Carnival which runs March 4-8 this year. #

Members of the Diablada Artistica Urus fraternity, dance during the Carnival of Oruro, in this Bolivian city some 230 Km south of La Paz, on March 5, 2011. The carnival of Oruro is one of the most famous festivities in South America - second only to that of Rio de Janeiro - and considered by UNESCO as one of mankind's Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. #

Children dressed as devils wait at the Malecon (seaside boulevard) to take part in the last day of the annual national carnival in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on March 6, 2011. #

A contestant gets the final touches backstage before the start of Las Palmas' Carnival Queen ceremony in Las Palmas, Spanish Canary Island of Gran Canaria, February 25, 2011. #

Children revellers of Nene de Vila Matilde samba school get ready at a concentration area before the start of the second night of Carnival parades at the Sambadrome, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, late on March 5, 2011. #

Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen dances on a Vila Isabel samba school float during carnival celebrations in the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early Monday March 7, 2011. #