A colorful carnival parade of samba schools brightened Helsinki's city center, starting from Senate Square. The event also featured the Finnish Championship competition in carnival samba.

Rio de Janeiro is currently hosting its annual Carnival, with fierce competition among samba schools and millions of partygoers filling the streets with glitter and color.

The all-female band "Um Amô," formed by women from Rio's samba schools, is set to perform for the third consecutive year at the "Samba Com Vida" festival in Estarreja, Portugal, and will also host a percussion workshop.

See the floats from the famous festival as the city's top samba schools compete for first prize.

During months of rehearsals, street bands and samba schools make space for pedestrians, creating islands of community spirit in a violent, unequal city where the car is still king

Samba schools in Brazil paid tribute to Black Brazilian female authors during their Carnival parades.