Glitter and glee: Mardi Gras caps Carnival season

A reveler releases a chicken from a cage after climbing a greased pole during the Faquetaique Courir de Mardi Gras celebration in Eunice, Louisiana, on Feb. 13, 2018.

Karen Price shows off her catch of beads from the Krewe of Thoth parade during Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans on Feb. 11.

Float riders encourage the crowd as the Krewe of Orpheus rolls through New Orleans for Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans on Feb. 12.

A foot marcher with the Krewe of Zulu makes his way down the street on Fat Tuesday in New Orleans on Feb. 13.

Revelers wearing sheepfur costumes light a bonfire to burn a coffin, symbolizing winter, during the closing ceremony of the traditional Carnival parade in Mohacs, Hungary on Feb. 13. 

Festival participants known as "Gilles" throw oranges in the streets of Binche, Belgium on Feb. 13. The Carnival de Binche is a popular historical cultural event that was named a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2003.

Rival teams "Up'ards" and "Down'ards" battle for the ball during the Royal Shrovetide Football match in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England on Feb. 13. For two days, over Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, hundreds of participants battle it out in a "no rules" game dating back to the 17th century. The goal is to get a ball into one of two goals positioned three miles apart at either end of Ashbourne.

The BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Landale, right, and MP Matt Warman approach the first corner in the annual Parliamentary Pancake Race in Victoria Tower Gardens on Shrove on Feb. 13 in London.

Teams of politicians and journalists race around a circuit while tossing pancakes in frying pans. The team of journalists won this year's event.

A reveler is pelted with oranges during Carnival celebrations in Ivrea, Italy on Feb. 12.

Revelers throw bread rolls in the crowd, a Carnival tradition going back to the 17th century and renewed in the beginning of the 20th century in Einsiedeln, Switzerland on Feb. 13.

The Paraiso do Tuiuti samba school performs in Rio de Janeiro's  Sambadrome on Feb. 12.

Photos: Spirit of Samba: Carnival sets Rio alight as dancers take to the Sambadrome

A fire-swallower performs in Port-au-Prince on Feb. 11. The name of this year's Carnival in Haitian creole is "Ayiti sou wout chanjman," Haiti on the road to change.

A reveler of the Tom Maior samba school performs during the first night of carnival in Sao Paulo at the city's Sambadrome on Feb. 10.

A dancer from the Rosas de Ouro samba school takes part in a carnival celebration at Anhembi Sambadrome in Sao Paulo on Feb. 10.

A reveler of the Academicos do Tatuape samba school performs in Sao Paulo, Brazil, at the city's Sambadrome early on Feb. 10.

Members of the samba school Grupo Especial Tom Maior take part in the carnival celebration at the Anhembi sambodrome in Sao Paulo on Feb. 10.

A member of the samba school Grupo Especial Rosas de Ouro takes part in the carnival celebration at the Anhembi sambodrome in Sao Paulo on Feb. 10.

A girl performs a rehearsal ahead of the Bissau Carnival parade on Feb. 10 in Bissau-Guinea. The 2018 edition of the Bissau Carnival celebrating diversity and nature is held from Feb. 10 to 13.

A member of the "Bloco Real Folia" group sits in front of a boat during Carnival of the Waters where colorful boats navigate the Jaituba river around the islands near the city of Cameta, Brazil on Feb. 9.

Women celebrate the launch of the hot carnival season during Women's Carnival on Feb. 8 in Duesseldorf, western Germany.

Aymara indigenous people perform traditional Andes highlands folk dances during the Anata Andino harvest festival, ahead of the Oruro Carnival, in Oruro, Bolivia, on Feb. 8.

During the harvest festival, native peasant farmers from different Bolivian highlands communities dance in the streets of Oruro giving thanks to Pachamama (mother earth) for the abundant crops.

Children dance samba at a rehearsal of the Vai Vai samba school, during carnival festivities in the Bixiga neighborhood in Sao Paulo on Feb. 8.

Dancers perform during a rehearsal on the eve of the Opera Ball 2018, the sumptuous highlight of the Austrian capital's ball season, on Feb. 7 at the State Opera House in Vienna.

A dancer poses for a picture in Port-au-Prince on Feb. 11. 

A nominee for queen performs during the main stage of the Carnival of Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife, on Feb. 7.

The costumes are more than 16 and a half feet high and over 177 pounds in weight. The event began on January 12 and finishes on February 18 with orchestras playing Caribbean and Brazilian rhythms throughout the festivities that range from elections for the Carnival Queen, the Junior Queen and the Senior Queen, to children and adult murgas (satirical street bands), comparsas (dance groups) and street performances.

Girls attend a parade along a street of the Carnival of Jacmel, Haiti on Feb. 4.

Revelers take part in the annual block party known as "Cordao do Boitata", during carnival festivities in Rio de Janeiro on Feb. 4.

A group of participants dressed in traditional clothes and large hats decorated with ribbons and feathers, known as ''Ttutturo'', take part in the Carnival of the Pyrenees villages of Leitza, northern Spain on Jan. 30.

A masked reveler wearing a traditional carnival costume poses in St Mark Square during Venice's Carnival on Jan. 28.