Carnival
Annual masked celebration
A carnival is a traveling amusement show with rides, games, and sideshows, or the festive season of merrymaking before Lent—most famously in Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans.
The core idea is public celebration with costumes, parades, music, and relaxed social rules: The streets filled with carnival revelers.
By extension, any wild or chaotic scene: The press conference turned into a carnival.
Pre-Ash Wednesday celebration
- RioBrazilian coastal city, shortened
- VeniceLagoon city, northeastern Italy
- TrinidadCaribbean island near Venezuela
- Notting HillAffluent West London district
Cologne · Tenerife · Cadiz · Basel · New Orleans · samba · calypso · steel drum
Organized public celebration
- paradeCeremonial public procession
- masqueradeDeceptive act or costume party
- revelryNoisy, lively celebration
- merrymakingLively, cheerful celebration
pageant · procession · spectacle · fiesta · costume · mask · float · confetti
Journey atop something
- Ferris wheelVertical rotating passenger circle
- carouselRevolving platform with seats
- midwayEquidistant from both ends
- cotton candySpun sugar confection
game · booth · prize · sideshow · funhouse · bumper car · roller coaster · tent
Christian fasting season
- Fat TuesdayPre-Lent celebration day
- Shrove TuesdayPre-Lent confession and feasting
- Ash WednesdayLent's opening day
- indulgenceYielding to desire
flesh · fasting · abstinence · Epiphany · Pancake Day
Mardi Gras
Pre-Ash Wednesday celebration
- RioBrazilian coastal city, shortened
- VeniceLagoon city, northeastern Italy
- TrinidadCaribbean island near Venezuela
Notting Hill · Cologne · Tenerife · Cadiz · Basel · New Orleans · samba · calypso · steel drum · bead
festival
Organized public celebration
- paradeCeremonial public procession
- masqueradeDeceptive act or costume party
- revelryNoisy, lively celebration
merrymaking · pageant · procession · spectacle · fiesta · costume · mask · float · confetti · streamer
ride
Journey atop something
- Ferris wheelVertical rotating passenger circle
- carouselRevolving platform with seats
- midwayEquidistant from both ends
cotton candy · game · booth · prize · sideshow · funhouse · bumper car · roller coaster · tent · barker
Lent
Christian fasting season
- Fat TuesdayPre-Lent celebration day
- Shrove TuesdayPre-Lent confession and feasting
- Ash WednesdayLent's opening day
indulgence · flesh · fasting · abstinence · Epiphany · Pancake Day
- public eventsfestivals, festival, light shows, parades, fireworks
- Travel BrandsExpedia, Booking.com, Airbnb, Marriott, Hilton
- celebrationsgraduation, festival, party, wedding, fireworks
- festivalsfestival, festivals, fairs, fair, parade
- holidaysChristmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Valentine's Day
- European cultureFrench cuisine, Italian art, opera, ballet, Renaissance
CarnivalLent
Christian fasting season
Ash Wednesday · Good Friday · Holy Week · fasting period · Advent
Carnivalfuneral
Service honoring the dead
mourning · solemnity · somberness · wake · austerity
Carnivalfast
Speedy, or skip eating
abstinence · self-denial · asceticism · penance · mortification
- carnival ridesMechanical amusements at fairs
- carnival gameBooth competition for prizes
- carnivorous plantsVegetation feeding on animals
- carnival barkerFairground attraction promoter
- winter carnivalCold-season outdoor celebration
- carnival prizeAward from midway games