Dancing from dusk till dawn in Rio

Feb 24, 2009, 23:10 GMT

Members of the Porto da Pedra samba school participate in the parade at the Sambodromo, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 23 February 2009. Rio de Janeiro\'s world-renowned carnival started on 21 February and runs through 24 February. EPA/FERNANDO BIZERRA JR

Rio de Janeiro - Hot samba rhythms mixed with confetti and fireworks as the best samba schools in Rio de Janeiro danced well into Tuesday morning, in their fight for the Carnival crown.

Like the previous night, the second and final round of the official Carnival competition featured six samba schools with their gigantic floats and thousands of dancers at Rio's sambadrome.

The winner of this edition of the world-famous Carnival is to be announced Wednesday.

Carnival has its origins in Catholic and some Protestant regions as a festival for letting off steam and stoking up on calories before the weeks of fasting, called Lent, that leads up to Easter. It is celebrated worldwide, including in Germany, where it is called Fasching.

Rio's celebration is considered the 'mais grande do mundo,' the world's biggest, an annual pagan celebration of the flesh, of beauty and fantasy, up to and including Fat Tuesday.

The never-ending street party extended well beyond the sambadrome, to the rest of Rio and even across Brazil, with millions taking part in the popular celebrations.

Some, however, will take home less-than-happy memories of the Rio Carnival. Despite the increased police presence, some 100 tourists were robbed of cameras, cellphones and cash.