(From top): Street performers at the Notting Hill Carnival; Samba dancers live it up in Rio de Janeiro; a reveller at Mardi Gras; merry-makers raise a toast to the Berlin Carnival; masqueraders at the Venice Carnival

It?s about dancing in the streets. It?s about being carried along by constant rhythms. And more than anything, it?s about shedding your worries and inhibitions in a joyful blur of freeness. Carnival time is around the corner and millions worldwide are gearing up to celebrate life and all its bacchanalian excesses.

The word ?carnival? is said to be derived from the Latin ?Carne?, meaning meat, and ?Vale?, which means ?good-bye?. In several parts of the globe, carnival season is also known as Mardi Gras. French for ?Fat Tuesday?, Mardi Gras is a Roman Catholic celebration ushering in the 40-day Lenten season before Easter. It takes place the day before Ash Wednesday, which can be any Tuesday from February 3 to March 9, depending on the date of Easter. As Lent demands abstaining from meat, Mardi Gras has always represented a last chance to indulge. And boy, do ?carnivalites? know how to indulge!

While most carnival celebrations around the world draw their origins from Christian traditions, others have their roots in pagan customs or even in such landmark judgements as the Abolition of Slavery Act in 1833 when the first Caribbean carnival was held in Trinidad.

Christian or pagan, we?ve shortlisted some of the globe?s largest and most lavish carnival celebrations. So get ready to samba as you hit these sizzling spots with us.

Rio de Janeiro

With its beautiful beaches, barely-there bikinis and that Bossa Nova beat, it?s no wonder that Rio de Janeiro ranks way up there on the revelry roster. Each year, usually in February, the city erupts in an ecstatic fiesta of pulsating music, swirling dancers and jaw-dropping costumes.

They say Carnival here is something that comes from deep within the fun-loving Carioca (local) soul. This isn?t just evident on the main days ? from Saturday to Fat Tuesday ? but also during the run-up to the main event.

Marching bands called bandas or blocos storm the streets a couple of weeks before Carnival followed by magnificent floats and hordes of Samba dancers.

The three parades of Banda de Ipanema, Rio?s most traditional band, attract the largest number of drag queens of any street band in Brazil. Chances are you?ll probably run into everyone from Carmen Miranda (albeit cheerful, chubby and a little bald) to the Little Mermaid. Costumes include the glamorous, the bizarre and ? in keeping with the mood ? anything in-between.

The Carnival?s main event is a parade that features a contest between Rio?s many Samba clubs that compete for the best song, dance and costumes. Throughout the festival, many smaller, more spontaneous processions fill the streets. These celebrations, as well as the nocturnal extravagance of Rio?s costume balls sum up the pageantry and euphoria of what is ?the world?s biggest party?.

In fact, attending one of the many balls during Carnival is a must. Locals will regale you with stories of the time when at one such affair, a ?Carnivalite? with a wicked sense of humour, slipped across actor Rock Hudson?s chest, a banner proclaiming ?Princess of Carnival?. Or the time when Prince Charles tried to do the Samba, and after some of the clumsiest steps ever, ended up doing the Charleston. Well, just blame it on Rio!

New Orleans

With an unofficial state motto that says ?let the good times roll?, expect nothing less than one wild ride here during Mardi Gras. The city has a well-earned reputation for wild abandon and debauchery. So if you?ve heard Mardi Gras stories of booze, beads and breast-baring, you?ve heard right.

New Orleans? ribald version of events includes several weeks of fun and fabulousness leading up to Mardi Gras. Though the big masquerade balls are often the domain of the city?s elite, there?s no shortage of public gatherings. Don?t even think of showing up without a costume of some sort ? even a simple mask will do.

Come Mardi Gras and New Orleans goes all out to display its food, its jazz and its reputation for being ?naughty?. Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, an area known for its strip clubs, is usually the place to be for the frolicking libertine. The tame of heart should stay away ? women here are known to flash their bosoms, all for ropes of colourful beads.

Trinidad and Tobago

For the days leading up to Ash Wednesday, traffic of a different kind overruns the avenues and alleys of central Port-of-Spain, Trinidad?s historic capital city. Thousands of people in all shapes, colours and sizes claim the streets as their own in a spirit of raucous celebration.

Trinidad?s carnival is the definitive street party and festivities in the Caribbean island begin in September with a series of band-launching f?tes. The bands are privately-owned, and their parades on Carnival Monday and Tuesday are the highlight of the Carnival proper.

During the festival, scores of scantily-clad, sequinned and feathered masqueraders throng the streets, gyrating to music by brass bands and deejay trucks. The bands then move to Queen?s Park Savannah, where they slog it out for top honours in the national steel band competition.

One of the aspects of Carnival, introduced by the natives of Trinidad, was ?J?ouvert? or ?ole mas?, an age-old tradition that sees people roaming and dancing to calypso music, in tattered clothing or slathered in body paint, oil and mud. Men dress as women, women as men, grown-ups don diapers, bankers and businessmen adorn themselves with chains and paint and mud-covered revellers tease passers-by ? but all in good fun.

For many Trinbagonians, Carnival is a love affair impossible to relinquish. Some maintain that this is the world?s biggest street party, and if not in absolute numbers, it certainly is in spirit.

Venice

The highlight of Venice?s social calendar is February?s bewigged, bemasked and berobed Carnevale. St Mark?s square, the theatres and the famous campi, all burst to life with musicians, theatre groups, acrobats and dancers even as the party hearty decked out in elaborate period costumes flock to the traditional masked balls.

The Venice Carnival is said to have its roots in the victory of the Repubblica della Serenissima (Venice, back then) over Ulrico, Patriarch of Aquileia in 1162. To celebrate the win, dances and reunions were held in San Marco Square. The carnival, with its attendant tradition of mask-wearing, has existed in some form or another ever since. The masks themselves ? along with the traditional bauto (hood and cape), tabarro (cloak) and tricorn hat ? were accepted carnival gear as they conferred complete anonymity on their wearers.

Today, with a two-week series of processions, masquerades, traditional ceremonies, music and festivities among the canals and squares of this ancient city, the Venice Carnival is one of the most celebrated events in Europe.

United Kingdom

For many, London?s Notting Hill Carnival has become a celebration and reflection of the city?s uniquely multicultural make-up. It has been taking place in London, over the last weekend of August, every year since 1964. The festival began initially from the energies of black immigrants from the Caribbean, where the carnival tradition is very strong, and from people living locally who dreamed of creating a festival to bring together the people of Notting Hill.

Five disciplines go to make up Notting Hill Carnival as we know it today: Masfrom (costumed processions and floats), Steelpan (traditional Trinidadian instrument), Calypso (traditional Trinidadian music), Soca (Calypso?s modern form) and Static Sound Systems.

Germany

Every year, at 11.11am on November 11, the city of Cologne goes into a frenzy, as carnival season is declared open. This is one of the biggest street parties in Europe ? the famous Altstadt is transformed into a dazzling and colourful celebration.

Prepare for non-stop merry-making in the streets and pubs and plenty of K?lsch, the local beer. Things kick off when a cavalcade of gaudily-decorated lorries, tractors and marching bands start out on a 6km route through the centre of Cologne. Keep an eye out for lorries carrying huge effigies lampooning Germany?s politicians.

As the season progresses to its grand finale, the annual Berlin carnival infuses the streets of the German capital with a riot of colour, music and dancing. People don traditional costumes of jesters, witches and Vikings and a host of other favourites. Since the first carnival attracted around 250,000 participants to the reunited Berlin in 2001, this fest has drawn more and more revellers with each year.

Goa

What?s a round-up of the hottest carnivals in the world without a mention of our very own Goa? Come February and the state goes into carnival overdrive as it pulls out all the stops to welcome the onset of spring. Contrary to popular belief, Carnival in Goa has no religious anchorage with Christianity. Today it is celebrated as a cultural highlight of the state rather than a religious function.

This is Goa?s most famous festival, so expect a lot of hoopla. Huge, colourful parades take over the towns complete with bands and floats while evenings beckon serious partying. The people elect a King Momo, who presides over the festivities and distributes prizes to the winners of the various competitions. Don?t miss the final day?s events that end with the famous red-and-black dance held at the Club Nationale in Panjim.

In the years gone by, women weren?t allowed to take part in the Carnival. So it was left up to the men to dress up and parade around as women. Today, of course, both men and women take to the streets although it?s advised to hang around with a known local for safety?s sake.

From romping in Rio to getting down in Goa, we?ve covered it all. But just in case, you can?t make it to any of these carnival havens, the least you can do is have your own little party. So organise the food (sugarcane, coconut and corn on the cob are menu-musts), choose your tipple and call the gang. Of course, don?t forget the masks!