National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Friday, September 5, 2008

Carnival Celebrated With Blood, Mud & Glitter

More
News
Photos

Carnival Celebrated With Blood, Mud & Glitter

Email to a Friend

<< Previous 4 of 10 Next >>

What's This?

RELATED STORIES

Barranquilla, Colombia, February 2, 2008—Painted revelers celebrate the Carnaval de Barranquilla, which some say is the second largest Carnival after Rio de Janeiro's.

Each year during the four days before Ash Wednesday, on the cusp of Christian Lent, the city in northern Colombia hums with dances, floats, and theatrical performances.

In 2003 the UN named the Barranquilla Carnival, which has its roots in 19th-century tradition, a ''Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity''.

• More Photos in the News
• Today's Top 15 Most Popular Stories
• Free Email Newsletter: "Focus on Photography"

—Photograph by Fernando Vergara/AP