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This year's carnival in Rio could go down as the safest in history.
While nearly 800,000 tourists, Brazilian and foreign, take part in the high-decibel samba extravaganza of the world's biggest Mardi Gras alongside most of Rio's population of six million, this year 50,000 police have been deployed to clamp down on crime in the city.

And for the first time, around 30 surveillance cameras have been installed to improve the monitoring of crowds and make it easier to tackle pick-pocketing and muggings that usually mar the event for a handful of unlucky revellers.


What a spectacle: The Vila Isabel samba school performs during the carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, earlier today


Rio rainbow: Thousands line the streets as the Samba Sao Clemente group parades by. The whole country stops completely for almost a week for the intense carnival festivities 

The Rio Carnival is the benchmark against which every other carnival is compared and boasts one of the most spectacular parades in the world.
This year’s carnival began on Saturday with the opening ceremony crowning the carnival king followed by various parades including the Children’s Samba Schools parade.

The biggest cheer was reserved for the appearance of elite samba group Portela, which performed despite losing most of its costumes and floats in a devastating fire.

A blaze in early February tore through the warehouses where Portela and two other samba groups were preparing for Carnival, destroying more than 3,000 feather and glitter costumes and many meticulously decorated floats.

But the group, which has not missed a parade in its 84-year history, put on a dazzling performance.


Sea of colour: The first night of the Rio Carnival parades at the Sambadrome. Scores of people watch the festivities from their balconies


Celebrity hangout: Actress and model Pamela Anderson (left) enjoys the view as the parade passes, 
while actor Jude Law (right) takes the opportunity to kick back and relax after his recent relationship break-up

Among celebrities spotted joining the party were top model Gisele Bundschen, actress Pamela Anderson and newly single British actor Jude Law.

Some of the revellers say they have already noticed the difference in atmosphere as a result of the police work in the months leading up to Mardi Gras 2011.

'The re-taking of the slums has improved the Carnival atmosphere a lot,' said one Brazilian dancer. 'Before it was a problem, there were muggings, but now people feel much safer,' he said.

Rio authorities are also trying to repair the city's reputation for crime ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.

The knock-on effect is a safer, if just as beautiful and crazy, carnival for everyone.


Fling those beads: Fat Tuesday festivities begin in New Orleans


The Krewe of Mid City Mardi Gras float rolls down St Charles Avenue in New Orleans. The crowds poured onto the Big Easy's streets for the traditional warm-up before the big show on Shrove Tuesday

New Orleans holds the American record for the biggest Mardi Gras celebrations - despite its difficulties over recent years.

Today in the city the warm-up for Mardi Gras is in full swing and people are celebrating the carnival season under clear skies.

After bad weather on Saturday which saw many parades cancelled as thunderstorms swept the state, yesterday crowds poured back onto the streets for the traditional warm-up before the big show on ‘Fat Tuesday’.

The French Quarter, where tourists and long-time regular visitors mix with locals, saw a handful of celebrity-laden parades and the usual revelry.

The temperature will rise further as the Carnival festivity moves closer to its climax. The excesses end at midnight tomorrow with the beginning of Lent.



Temperatures will rise as the Carnival festivity moves closer to its climax of midnight tomorrow, the beginning of Lent

Meanwhile in the UK, Mardi Gras fever has spread to Great Yarmouth, which will host its second Carnival parade.

Local schoolchildren have been making Rio carnival-style masks and headdresses while Lithuanian culture will be represented by a colourful fight between two giant characters, Fatso and Hempen, which symbolise the struggle between winter and spring.