Rio de Janeiro Carnival 2014 photos: Carnival climax

Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is the grandest holiday in Brazil, annually drawing millions of people in raucous celebrations. Hundreds of thousands of merrymakers will take to Rio's streets in the nearly 500 open-air 'bloco' parties that precede one of the world's most infamous festivals. The event climaxes with various samba schools competing in the annual parade at the Sambadrome.