NYC Labor Day Carnival 2011 Live Stream Caribbean Parade

The Labor Day Parade (or West Indian Carnival), is an annual celebration held on American Labor Day (the first Monday in September), in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York.

This live webcast is in New York for the labor Day Caribbean parade and carnival:

NYC Labor Day 2011 Live Stream

Event Information:

The main event of the parade is the West Indian-American Day Parade, which attracts between one and three million participators. The spectators and participators watch and follow the parade on its route along Eastern Parkway.

The earliest known Carnival street parade was held on September 1, 1947. The Trinidad Carnival Pageant Committee was the founding force behind the parade, which was held in Harlem. The parade route was along Seventh Avenue, starting at 110th St.

The first Carnival Queen was Miss Dorothy Godfrey. The Committee raised money to finance the parade. They sold advertisement space and boosters, that were printed in a Souvenir Journal for West Indies Day, a booklet which is a memento of that first parade. Mrs. Jessie Waddell Compton is presented in the journal as the person "whose inspiration and enterprise" was owed to the formation of this committee. The committee consisted of Mrs. Waddell Compton-Chairman; Ivan H. Daniel-Vice Chairman; Conrad Matthews-Treasurer; Roy Huggins-Secretary; and Robert J. Welsh-Assistant Secretary. Each member of the committee contributed in helping to organize the parade. The after-parade party, which the Trinidad Carnival Pageant Committee held at the Golden Gate Ballroom (located at 142nd St. and Lenox Ave), was arranged by James M. Green, another figure who helped make the first Carnival Parade in Harlem successful.

Grenada Carnival 2011 Live Stream Spicemas Parade and Pageant Mas

The Grenada carnival 2011 features a host of entertainment, including Pageant Mas, Monday Night Mas, Parade of the Bands, J'Ouvert, Dimanche Gras and many more.

This live feed is in Grenada for the main carnival events:

http://www.myworldwebcams.com/events/grenada_carnival.html

Location Information:

The music of Grenada has included the work of several major musicians, including Eddie Bullen, David Emmanuel, one of the best-selling reggae performers ever, and Mighty Sparrow, a calypsonian. The island is also known for jazz, most notably including Eddie Bullen, a pianist, songwriter and record producer currently residing in Canada. Kingsley Etienne, a keyboardist, while the Grenadan-American Joe Country & the Islanders have made a name in country music.

African dances brought to Grenada survive in an evolved form, as have European quadrilles and picquets. Some of the most popular recent dances include Heel-and-Toe and Carriacou Big Drum, with popular dancers including Willie Redhead, Thelma Phillips, Renalph Gebon and the Beewee Ballet.

Independence in 1974 launched a Grenadian national identity which was exemplified in the calypso of the time, which tended to be intensely patriotic. More modern calypso performers have experimented, using political commentary and poetry to expand the possibilities of Grenadian calypso. Indian influences have also changed the sound of Grenadian calypso.

Running of the Bulls Live Stream, Pamplona San Fermin Festival

The Running of the Bulls, the Spanish encierro, is a practice that involves running in front of a small group (typically a dozen) of bulls that have been let loose, on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets.

This live feed is in Pamplona for the famous Running of the Bulls:

http://www.myworldwebcams.com/events/running_bulls.html

Event Information:

The purpose of this event is the transport of the bulls from the off-site corrals where they had spent the night, to the bullring where they would be killed in the evening. Youngsters would jump among them to show off their bravado. Spanish lore says the true origin began in North-eastern Spain during the early 14th century. While transporting cattle in order to sell at the market, men would attempt to speed the process by hurrying their cattle using tactics of fear and excitement. After years of this practice, the transportation and hurrying began to turn into a competition, as young adults would attempt to race in front of the bulls and make it safely to their pens without being overtaken. When the popularity of this practice increased and was noticed more and more by the expanding population of Spanish cities, a tradition was created and stands to this day.

The Pamplona encierro is the most popular running of the bulls in Spain and is broadcast live by two national television channels. It is the highest profile event of the San Fermin festival, which is held every year from July 6–14. The first bull running is on July 7, followed by one on each of the following mornings of the festival, beginning every day at 8 am. Participants must be at least 18 years old, run in the same direction as the bulls, not incite the bulls, and not be under the influence of alcohol. In Pamplona a double wooden fence is used in those streets where there is enough space for it, while in other parts the buildings of the street act as barriers. It is composed of around three thousand separate pieces and while some parts are left for the duration of the fiesta others are mounted and dismounted every morning.

Pamplona Webcam, Running of the Bulls 2011 Live

The Running of the Bulls, the Spanish encierro, is a practice that involves running in front of a small group (typically a dozen) of bulls that have been let loose, on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets.

This live feed is in Pamplona for the famous Running of the Bulls:

Running of the Bulls live

Event Information:

The purpose of this event is the transport of the bulls from the off-site corrals where they had spent the night, to the bullring where they would be killed in the evening. Youngsters would jump among them to show off their bravado. Spanish lore says the true origin began in North-eastern Spain during the early 14th century. While transporting cattle in order to sell at the market, men would attempt to speed the process by hurrying their cattle using tactics of fear and excitement. After years of this practice, the transportation and hurrying began to turn into a competition, as young adults would attempt to race in front of the bulls and make it safely to their pens without being overtaken. When the popularity of this practice increased and was noticed more and more by the expanding population of Spanish cities, a tradition was created and stands to this day.

The Pamplona encierro is the most popular running of the bulls in Spain and is broadcast live by two national television channels. It is the highest profile event of the San Fermin festival, which is held every year from July 6–14. The first bull running is on July 7, followed by one on each of the following mornings of the festival, beginning every day at 8 am. Participants must be at least 18 years old, run in the same direction as the bulls, not incite the bulls, and not be under the influence of alcohol. In Pamplona a double wooden fence is used in those streets where there is enough space for it, while in other parts the buildings of the street act as barriers. It is composed of around three thousand separate pieces and while some parts are left for the duration of the fiesta others are mounted and dismounted every morning.

Washington DC Caribbean Carnival Parade 2011 Live Webcam Feed

The Washington DC Caribbean Style Mardi Gras Parade with costumed masqueraders representing the Caribbean, Latin America and the Diaspora will transform Georgia Avenue into a “Caribbean Bourbon Street” with the sights and sounds of the Caribbean.

This live feed is in DC for the parade:

DC Caribbean Carnival Live

Event Information:

This year’s Parade begins on Kansas at Georgia Avenue, NW and ends at Barry Place, NW across from the Howard University Campus leading to the Festival.

Caribbean Carnival is the term used for a number of events that take place in many of the Caribbean islands annually. The Caribbean's Carnivals all have several common themes all originating from Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, based on folklore, culture, religion,and tradition, not on amusement rides. Carnival tradition is based on a number of disciplines including: "Playing Mas"/Masquerade; Calypso Music and crowning a Calypso King or Monarch; Panorama (Steel Band Competition); Jouvert morning; and a number of other traditions.

Georgia Avenue is a major north-south artery in Northwest Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland. Within the District of Columbia and a short distance in Silver Spring, Maryland, Georgia Avenue is also U.S. Route 29. Both Howard University and Walter Reed Army Medical Center are located on Georgia Avenue.

Georgia Avenue begins north of Florida Avenue, which was the boundary of the Old City, and is a continuation of 7th Street. Traveling northward, the street passes Howard University and Fort Stevens.

San Francisco Carnaval 2011 Live Feed, Parade & Festival Webcam Stream

Carnaval San Francisco is an annual street parade and festival in San Francisco, California on the last weekend in May. It was founded by a large group of visionary artists brought together by percussionist Marcus Gordon, dancer Adela Chu, and costume designer Pam Minor in 1979.

This live feed is in San Francisco for the Carnaval:

SF Carnaval Live Feed

Event information:

The San Francisco Bay Area Carnaval season begins in February as the great Western hemisphere Carnaval celebrations are concluding. The four Carnaval Cities with the greatest influence and presence in the San Francisco Carnaval are Port of Spain, Trinidad; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Salvador, Brazil; and Oruro, Bolivia. The Mission District, San Francisco, California since the 1950s, has been a metro center for the many different Spanish speaking populations of Latin America and these groups will often enter a group or Carnaval contingent in the parade.

Carnaval or Mardi Gras is best seen as a spring festival celebrating the rebirth of life and thus it is a universal festival celebrated by all cultures as well as the first festival. Besides the strong American hemisphere presence in the parade there are generally Carnaval groups from the Philippines, India, China, Middle East and Africa.

As a parade, Carnaval San Francisco is most recognized for its spectacular choreographed dancers and scantily clad beautiful women. The Inner Mission District with two BART stations supports the Bay Area's highest concentration of dance studios and instructors. Many of these dance instructors have been pillars of the Carnaval parade instilling the sublime sense of uniting with the Carnaval spirit though movement and song into their students during the peak moments best experienced in the parade.

St Petersburg Webcam, City Day Fireworks 2011 Live

St. Petersburg will be celebrating it's 308th anniversary this year, with free concerts, street parties and fireworks display. St Petersburg's City Day bring all the residents out to celebrate.

This live feed is in St Petersburg for the fireworks and celebrations:

St Petersburg City Day Live

Location Information:

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject (a federal city) of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city's other names were Petrograd and Leningrad It is often called just Petersburg (Russian: Петербург) and is informally known as Piter

Founded by Tsar Peter I of Russia on May 27, 1703, it was the capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years (1713–1728, 1732–1918). Saint Petersburg ceased being the capital in 1918 after the Russian Revolution of 1917. It is Russia's second largest city after Moscow with 4.6 million inhabitants, and fourth in Europe after Istanbul, London and Moscow. Saint Petersburg is a major European cultural centre, and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea.

Hamburg Webcam at Frühlingsdom Spring Festival 2011

The Hamburger Dom is a large funfair held in Hamburg, at Heiligengeistfeld area, in the North of Germany. With three fairs (spring, summer and winter) per year it is the biggest in Northern Germany and the longest fair throughout Germany.

For live feed, webcam, dates, festival details:

Hamburger Dom 2011 Live

It attracts approximately nine million visitors annually. Just like the Oktoberfest, this Volksfest (lit. peoples fair) is a mix of both beer festival and funfair.

A market in or in front of Hamburg's cathedral was first recorded in 1329, at the beginning only in special seasons like Christmas. With the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century the fair was also held on other times. After the demolition of the cathedral (1804–1807), the market was held on the Gänsemarkt (geese market) in 1804, but kept the name Dom. Since 1892, the funfair was held at Heiligengeistfeld (lit. field of the Holy Spirit) and the name was used for all fairs in the area.

Winterdom or Dommarkt (winter fair or cathedral market): 30 days in late autum
Sommerdom or Hummelfest (summer fair or Hummel market) since 1947: 31 days during summer
Frühlingsdom (spring fair): since 1948, 30 days in spring

New York Webcam Live at St Patrick's Day Parade 2011

The St Patrick's Day parade in New York City starts at 11.00am on 17th March, first marches up Fifth Avenue past St. Patrick's Cathedral at 50th Street and then up past the American Irish HIstorical Society at 83rd and the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 83rd Street to 86th Street, where the parade usually finishes mid afternoon.

This live feed is in New York for the St Patrick's Day parade:

St Patrick's Day New York Live

Event Information:

In the USA, the Irish Society of Boston organised what was not only the first Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the colonies but the first recorded Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the world on 18 March 1737. (The first parade in Ireland did not occur until 1931 in Dublin.) This parade in Boston involved Irish immigrant workers marching to make a political statement about how they were not happy with their low social status and their inability to obtain jobs in America. New York's first Saint Patrick's Day Parade was held on 17 March 1762 by Irish soldiers in the British Army. The first celebration of Saint Patrick's Day in New York City was held at the Crown and Thistle Tavern in 1766, the parades were held as political and social statements because the Irish immigrants were being treated unfairly. In 1780, General George Washington, who commanded soldiers of Irish descent in the Continental Army, allowed his troops a holiday on 17 March “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence." This event became known as The St. Patrick's Day Encampment of 1780.

Irish patriotism in New York City continued to soar and the parade in New York City continued to grow. Irish aid societies were created like Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and the Hibernian Society and they marched in the parades too. Finally when many of these aid societies joined forces in 1848 the parade became not only the largest parade in the United States but one of the largest in the world.

Dublin Webcam Live at 2011 St Patrick's Day Parade and Festival

The centre of Dublin in the Republic or Ireland is the focus for the St Patrick's day celebrations on March 17 every year, with a parade, carnival and festival as the city's residents all come out to celebrate the feast day of their patron saint.

This live feed is in Dublin for the St Patrick's Day celebrations:

Dublin St Patrick's Day Parade Live

Event Information:

Saint Patrick's Day is the feast day of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland and a day of celebration for Irish people and all things that are Irish. It is celebrated on March 17 all over Ireland and everywhere in the world where Irish people or their descendants live. New York City has one of the biggest parades. It is a very Irish festival and it involves a lot of feasting and celebrations, which includes traditional Irish music, drinking Guinness and eating bacon and cabbage. Another tradition is one has to wear green clothing or they will be pinched. Green is the color for Saint Patrick's day as it is the national color of Ireland and people will wear green on that day or have some type of shamrock on their clothing.

Saint Patrick's feast day, as a kind of national day, was already being celebrated by the Irish in Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries. In later times he become more and more widely known as the patron of Ireland.[ Saint Patrick's feast day was finally placed on the universal liturgical calendar in the Catholic Church due to the influence of Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding in the early 1600s. Saint Patrick's Day thus became a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland. The church calendar avoids the observance of saints' feasts during certain solemnities, moving the saint's day to a time outside those periods. Saint Patrick's Day is occasionally affected by this requirement, when 17 March falls during Holy Week. This happened in 1940, when Saint Patrick's Day was observed on 3 April in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and again in 2008, where it was officially observed on 14 March (15 March being used for St. Joseph, which had to be moved from March 19), although the secular celebration still took place on 17 March. Saint Patrick's Day will not fall within Holy Week again until 2160. (In other countries, St. Patrick's feast day is also March 17, but liturgical celebration is omitted when impeded by Sunday or by Holy Week.)

Chicago Webcam Feed Live at St Patrick's Day River Dying and Parade

Chicago dyes its river green and has done so since 1962 when sewer workers used green dye to check for sewer discharges and had the idea to turn the river green for Saint Patrick's Day. Originally 100 pounds of vegetable dye was used to turn the river green for a whole week but now only forty pounds of dye is used and the colour only lasts for several hours.

This live feed is in Chicago for the river dying and the following parade:

St Patrick's Day Chicago Live Feed

Scheduled for 10:00 am, Saturday March 12th, the dyeing can be best viewed from the East side of the Michigan Avenue bridge, the West side of the Columbus Drive bridge or upper and lower Wacker Drive between Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive.

Following this, the St Patrick's Day parade starts at Balbo and Columbus. The parade units will proceed north on Columbus Drive and the viewing stand will be located in front of Buckingham Fountain.

St Patrick's Day:

Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the 4th century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father and grandfather were deacons in the Church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.

Saint Patrick's Day San Franciso 2011 Live Parade Webcam Feed

San Francisco’s Saint Patrick’s Day parade is the largest one west of the Mississippi. There has been a St. Patrick's Day celebration in San Francisco since 1852, and the tradition continues to this day.

This live feed is in San Francisco for the 2011 St Patrick's Day parade:

San Francisco St Patrick's Day Live Webcam

Event Information:

San Francisco has always had a large Irish American population and for many decades Irish Americans were the largest ethnic group in San Francisco. However, as of the early 21st century, the largest ethnic group in San Francisco is Chinese Americans and most of the Irish Americans have moved to the suburban parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. Each year, however, Irish from all over the San Francisco Bay Area come into San Francisco to march in or to see the Saint Patrick's Day parade march down Market Street, held the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day. Numerous people from all ethnic groups can be seen wearing green in San Francisco on St. Patrick's Day.San Francisco’s 160th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival will draw thousands of people to the streets of San Francisco on March 12, 2011.

The event will provide plenty of Irish history, cultural clichés, and a full day of fun and festivities, including live performances, arts, crafts, food and drinks. Bring the kids so they can ride the ponies, play on inflatables, and enjoy the petting zoo.

Denver Webcam Feed Live at 2011 St Patrick's Day Parade

This year's Denver St. Patrick's Day Parade presented by Bellco Credit Union steps off at 10 a.m., Saturday, March 12, filling the streets of LoDo with lots of green and good Irish cheer.

This live feed is in Denver for the 2011 St Patrick's Day parade:

St Patrick's Day Denver Live Feed

St Patrick's Day:

Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It is named after Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland. It originated as a Catholic holiday and became an official feast day in the early 17th century. It has gradually become more of a secular celebration of Irish culture.

It is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador and in Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated by the Irish diaspora, especially in places such as Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and Montserrat, among others.

Saint Patrick's feast day, as a kind of national day, was already being celebrated by the Irish in Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries. In later times he become more and more widely known as the patron of Ireland. Saint Patrick's feast day was finally placed on the universal liturgical calendar in the Catholic Church due to the influence of Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding in the early 1600s. Saint Patrick's Day thus became a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland. The church calendar avoids the observance of saints' feasts during certain solemnities, moving the saint's day to a time outside those periods. Saint Patrick's Day is occasionally affected by this requirement, when 17 March falls during Holy Week.

St Louis Webcam Feed Live at Mardi Gras Parade 2011

The St Louis Fat Tuesday parade starts off from Broadway & Convention Plaza, and rolls south to Broadway & Walnut, and remains the biggest and most spectacular Mardi Gras parade in town.

This live feed is in St Louis for the Mardi Gras parade:

St Louis Mardi Gras Live

Event Information:

Over the years, what started as a private party has grown in size and scale, attracted major corporate sponsorship, and is a huge part of the tourism economy of St Louis. The event usually attracts tens of thousands of revelers. The size of the crowd varies considerably from year to year, with the weather being the biggest factor in determining crowd size. On the second Saturday before Mardi Gras, there is a family-oriented "Krewe of Barkus" pet parade with corporate sponsorship by Beggin' Strips.

Participants consist of anyone who dresses up their pet in costume, and walks their pet along the parade route. The parade is followed by the informal Wiener dog races. Then, on the Saturday before Fat Tuesday, the more adult-oriented, flesh-for-beads parade occurs, although there have been various attempts to reserve a family section at one end of the route. People from all over storm the streets with beers and bead necklaces after the Saturday parade. The streets of Soulard, Geyer, Allen, Russell, Ann, Shenandoah, and others are crowded with people from 7th to 12th Street. The Fat Tuesday parade occurs in the evening. In recent years it has been moved from just north of Soulard to downtown St. Louis. The majority of the overall Mardi Gras festivities have corporate sponsorship, primarily from Anheuser-Busch and Southern Comfort

Pensacola Beach Live Webcam Feed at Mardi Gras Parade 2011

Pensacola Beach is the scene of the annual Mardi Gras Parade. Sunny weather is in the forecast for Sunday’s Pensacola Beach Krewe of Wrecks Mardi Gras parade, and organizers are planning to see big crowds on the island.

This live feed is at Pensacola Beach for the parade:

Pensacola Mardi Gras Live Webcam

Over 40 floats are registered for the parade, which will begin at 2 p.m. and travel from Avenida 10, along Via de Luna to the Casino Beach parking lot, ending near the Gulfside Pavilion.

Pensacola, Florida hosts a Mardi Gras Celebration. The Pensacola celebrations also use Moon Pies in combination with beads, coins, candies & Krewe-related trades. The Pensacola festivities and the Krewes that sponsor them often are more light-hearted and family-oriented than some in other venues. The name of a number of the Krewes are puns of the names of historic Krewes in New Orleans and Mobile.

The annual Pensacola celebration, is among the oldest in the United States, dating back to 1874. Festivities typically took place on the eponymous Tuesday itself and the preceding week. The event became unorganized, having "fallen entirely into the hands of individual merry-makers and frolickers who disported themselves as their own wild merriment dictated," but was reorganized by the Clerks Union in 1900. They formed the Pensacola Carnival Association with a 12-person committee led by chairman J. I. Johnson. Priscus remained the title of the festival's ceremonial king, and Alexander Clement Blount II was named the first King Priscus of the new group.

New Orleans Webcam Feed Live at 2011 Mardi Gras Parade

New Orelans Mardi Gras Louisiana, is a Carnival celebration well-known throughout the world. The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts after Twelfth Night, on Epiphany.

This live feed is in New Orleans for the Mardi Gras:

New Orleans Mardi Gras Live Feed

Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French), the day before Ash Wednesday. Usually there is one major parade each day (weather permitting); many days have several large parades. The largest and most elaborate parades take place the last five days of the season. In the final week of Carnival, many events large and small occur throughout New Orleans and surrounding communities. The parades in New Orleans are organized by Carnival krewes.

The celebration of Mardi Gras was brought to Louisiana by early French settlers. The first record of the holiday being celebrated in Louisiana was at the mouth of the Mississippi River in what is now lower Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, on March 3, 1699. Iberville, Bienville, and their men celebrated it as part of an observance of Catholic practice. Each year the Mardi Gras (or Carnival) season starts on January 6, also known as Twelfth Night. The Twelfth Night Revelers, one of Carnival's oldest Krewes, holds a masked ball each year to mark the occasion. Many of Carnival's oldest groups such as the Elves of Oberon and the High Priests of Mithras hold masked balls, but do not parade in public.

Sydney Mardi Gras Parade 2011 Live Webcam

Sydney Mardi Gras is an annual parade and festival in Sydney, Australia, and is the largest such event in the world. The parade features individual entrants in colourful costumes, gatherings of local and inter-state community group members, and elaborate floats representating a topical theme or political message.

This live feed is in Sydney for the Mardi Gras:

Sydney Mardi Gras Live Feed

Event Information:

The parade, whilst featuring many in the community with a penchant for exotic costumes and dance music, has always retained a political edge, with often witty visual commentary on their political opponents featuring in the floats. As it became more and more accepted in the wider community, more gay representatives of community groups and organisations have taken part in the parade, including the police force. Each parade starts with about 200 on bikes riding up Oxford Street. It is often accompanied by fireworks displays, which are launched from the rooftops of buildings along the parade route.

The post parade party is one the largest ongoing party events in the country. Mardi Gras Party attendances at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion / Royal Hall of Industries peaked in 1998 with 27,000 tickets sold. In the years since 17,000 to 20,000 tickets are consistently sold, an extraordinary explosion since the first Parade Ball held in 1980 at the Paddington Town Hall, a BYO event which attracted 700 guests.

Rio de Janiero Webcam Feed Live at the Rio Carnival 2011

The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is a world famous festival held before Lent every year. The carnival parade is filled with people and floats from various samba schools.

This live feed is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the 2011 Carnival:

Rio Carnival Webcam Feed

Event Information:

The purpose of carnival is for samba schools to compete with fellow rival schools; this competition is the climax of the whole carnival festival. Each school chooses a theme to try and portray in their entry. The samba schools work to build the best floats and costumes to represent their themes, and to include the best music they can from their band called the bateria. There are many parts to each school's entry including the six to eight floats and thousands of participants.

As the parade is taking place in the Sambadrome and the balls are being held in the Copacabana Palace and beach, many of the carnival participants are at other locations. Street festivals are very common during carnival and are highly populated by the locals. Elegance and extravagance are usually left behind, but music and dancing are still extremely common. Anyone is allowed to participate in the street festivals. Bandas and bondos are very familiar with the street carnival especially because it takes nothing to join in on the fun except to jump in. One of the most well known bandas of Rio is Banda de Ipanema. Banda de Ipanema was first created in 1965 and is known as Rio’s most irreverent street band. The samba is the main dance of Rio Carnival but it is not performed in silence. Music is another major aspect of all parts of carnival. As stated by Samba City, “Samba Carnival Instruments are an important part of Brazil and the Rio de Janeiro Carnevale, sending out the irresistible beats and rhythms making the crowd explode in a colourful dance revolution.

Venice Webcam Live Feed at the 2011 Carnevale di Venezia

The Carnival of Venice (Italian: Carnevale di Venezia) is an annual festival, held in Venice, Italy. The Carnival starts around two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday.

This live feed is in Venice for the 2011 carnival:

Venice Carnival 2011 Live Feed

Carnival started as a time for celebration and expression throughout the classes, as wearing masks hid any form of identity between social classes. During the 1970s, the Italian government decided to bring back the history and culture of Venice, and sought to use the traditional Carnival as the centerpiece of their efforts. Today, approximately 30,000 visitors come to Venice each day for Carnivals.

Masks have always been a central feature of the Venetian carnival; traditionally people were allowed to wear them between the festival of Santo Stefano (St. Stephen's Day, December 26) and the start of the carnival season and midnight of Shrove Tuesday. They have always been around Venice. As masks were also allowed Ascension and from October 5 to Christmas, people could spend a large proportion of the year in disguise. Maskmakers (mascherari) enjoyed a special position in society, with their own laws and their own guild.

Venetian masks can be made in leather or with the original glass technique. The original masks were rather simple in design and decoration and often had a symbolic and practical function. Nowadays, most of them are made with the application of gesso and gold leaf and are all hand-painted using natural feathers and gems to decorate.

Chicago Webcam at Oktoberfest 2010

The Chicago Otoberfest is located in the South Lakeview neighborhood, and attracts crowds of thousands form all across the state, as well as large numbers of international visitors.

This live webcam is is Chicago throughout the festival:

Chicago Oktoberfest web cam

Event Information:

The original "Oktoberfest" occurred in Munich, on October 12, 1810: For the public commemoration of their marriage that took place five days before, Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese organized a great horse race. The event was so successful that it was decided to renew it in 1811.

The Chicago Otoberfest is located in the South Lakeview neighborhood, St. Alphonsus was founded by German immigrants in 1882, and continues to recognize its German roots by celebrating an authentic Oktoberfest. Keeping with tradition, festival goers can expect to experience homemade bratwurst, the oom-pah of German bands, the music of top area headliner bands, activities for kids (KinderFest), and of course lots of great beer! The event promises to quench your thirst and provide you with hours of interactive entertainment in the true spirit of a German Oktoberfest. Oom-Pah bands and some of Chicago’s finest pop-rock groups will be featured.