Brazil Carnival 2019: World famous Carnival kicks off with street parties and colourful parades

Millions of Brazilians and tourists are dancing in the streets of the country's main cities to the rhythm of the street bands for this year's Carnival, which kicked off over the weekend.

The revellers in cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo were undeterred by the rain on Saturday.

The Cordao da Bola Preta "bloco" or troupe, which paraded through the streets of downtown Rio de Janeiro, attracted the biggest crowds, while the Galo da Madrugada bunch enlivened a nine-hour party in the historic centre of Recife.

These two troupes are competing in the Guinness Book of Records for the title of the world's best Carnival troupe and traditionally parade the Saturday of Carnival.

Despite the fine rain that fell all day on Rio de Janeiro, the Cordao da Bola Preta attracted close to 1.5 million people to a parade that began on Saturday morning in the downtown Quince Plaza and ended almost six hours later on Presidente Antonio Carlos Avenue.

AAP