The Catholic festival of Carnival starts on a Sunday and lasts until Ash Wednesday: the start of Lent which lasts until Easter.
For many people, Carnival is a happy festival. It is mostly celebrated in Roman Catholic countries and is the last day and last hours before the time of Lent, the weeks before Good Friday and Easter.
The time for celebration and rich meals are there for a reason. Lent is a period in earlier time Roman Catholics fasted, abstained from eating meat and other ascetic practices. So it’s a festival as a prelude to a time of soberness. The sober lifestyle is a practice in Lent where the worldwide church remembers the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Carnival festivities end on Ash Wednesday, which is the official start of the time for fasting, the time of Lent.
Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is the biggest celebration in the world.
Carnival in the next years
Carnival 2021 : Sunday 14th February to Tuesday 16th February
Carnival 2022 : Sunday 27th February to Tuesday 1st March
Carnival 2023 : Sunday 19th February to Tuesday 21th February
Carnival 2024 : Sunday 11th February to Tuesday 13th February
Carnival 2025 : Sunday 2nd March to Tuesday 4th March
Carnival 2026 : Sunday 15th February to Tuesday 17th February