Salvador Carnival, one of the world’s biggest and most famous, brings out the best of Afro-Brazilian music and dance. The spectacle of the religious groups, known as Afoxé societies, is one of the most striking elements of the celebration.

A far cry from the polished glitz and glamour of Rio de Janeiro’s carnival and the accompanying media feeding frenzy, Salvador has the sultry, intoxicating atmosphere of a true Brazilian street party.

One of the more renowned Afoxé societies at the Salvador Carnival are the Filhos de Gandhy, or Sons of Gandhi. Dressed in the white tunics and blue turbans of their West African ancestors, these members make up one of the many Afro Blocos. Members can number in the hundreds. Tight syncopated drumming with catchy rhythms make it impossible not to dance.

Trios Electricos – large bands that play music close in style to the Afro Blocos through enormous sound systems – dominate the floats at Salvador Carnival, so if percussion, Latin music or just letting your hair down is your thing, then head down to Salvador on Brazil’s north-east coast.

Attend workshops, exhibitions, gastronomic shows, carnival catwalks and more at Mexico City’s annual Festival of Drumming and African Culture. Music groups come from across the world and activities take place in El Zócalo and various cultural centres in the capital. The festival takes place from the 21 – 28 February 2010.

The Carnival of Oruro (El Carnaval de Oruro) is the biggest annual cultural event in Bolivia. Considered by many the finest in South America after the Brazilian carnival in Rio de Janeiro, it is a carnival that should not be missed if travelling around Latin America.

The carnival has been recognized by UNESCO since 2001 as a World Heritage event and declared the carnival as one of Mankind’s Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

The Carnival of Oruro is located in the old mining city of Oruro, in the Altiplano region of the high Andes Mountains in Bolivia, South America. The Oruro carnival typically begins a week before Lent each year.

During the Carnival, thousands of visitors from other Bolivian towns and from neighbouring countries, flock to the city to take part in the festivities. The carnival is basically a week long fiesta, where thousands of dancers and musicians in expensive costumes parade through the streets and where heavy drinking and water-balloon fights are the norm.

The highlight of the Carnival is conducted over three days and nights, with fifty groups parading through the city over a route of four kilometres. The groups are not just from Oruro but from all over Bolivia. The groups represent various indigenous dance forms, and are accompanied by several bands.

The origins of the carnival is said to date back to the late 1700’s, where legend has it that a thief called Chiru-Chiru was mortally wounded and the Virgen de la Candelaria (Virgin of the Candle Mass) took care of him in a mineshaft until he eventually died. Miners soon found his body there and were astonished to see on the wall above the him an almost life-sized image of the Virgen de la Candelaria.

The miners immediately decided to recognize the Virgen de la Candelaria as the Virgen del Socavon (Virgin of the Mineshaft) – protector of the working population – and along with the mining community they decided that every year they would celebrate it with a great fiesta.

Over the many years the legend and has been combined with other ancient indigenous tales. Today the Carnival celebrations are a combination of Andean folklore and Catholic rituals.

Some of the parade route for the carnival is lined with bleachers, in which tickets are sold for a seat. People are able to choose their seat locations and receive numbered tickets for specific streets. Certain seats around the main plazas and along certain central streets are considered more desirable and cost more than those in other areas. Another option is make your way through the crowds of people standing along the parade route to get a view.

Hotel room rates around the Carnaval de Oruro dates will be triple and tend to fill up fast, so it is best to book a hotel well in advance. If hotels are tough to find go to a tourist information booth in Oruro and they should be able direct you to a place to sleep if no hotels are available.

The five crazy days of Carnival in Mazatlán is the time to see the city at its very best – and worst – when this usually bustling fishing port and low-key beach resort transforms itself into a frantic maelstrom of party-goers, hawkers and bug-eyed tourists. Carnival here is an excuse to eke out the last of your sins before Lent, and you are likely to encounter some of the thickest, craziest crowds you’ll ever see. Mazatlán’s celebration of Mardi Gras is said to be the third largest carnival in the world after those in New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro, attracting as many as 300,000 – 400,000 revellers. The countdown to Mazatlán’s Carnival begins five days before Ash Wednesday, but predictably the festivities are at their wildest on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, before people head home to be with their family or their church.

Drums, whistles, and chanting reverberate around the streets of Masaya during this festival celebrating Saint Sebastian. The town of Diriamba (19 miles southwest of Masaya) is generally recognized as throwing an even more colourful and authentic parade, too, with a lively mix of pagan satire and colonial pomp. Last 2 weeks in January.

Feria de las Flores y del Café (the Flower and Coffee Festival) is one of the grandest celebrations of flowers in the world, drawing thousands of people to Boquete for 10 days. Expect lush flower displays, food stands, live music, amusement rides, handicrafts booths, and hotel rooms booked far in advance. The festival takes place in mid-January.

The world’s largest electronic dance music festival comes to Chile in January each year. More than 100 DJs in massive floats complete with sound systems, take over the city in a 2.5 mile long party. The parade finally gets to Plaza Italian where it goes off with a bang for over 18 consecutive hours. There are usually after parties too so be prepared for a long night.

These fiesta’s in the first two weeks of January include folk dancing, concerts, carnival, music, tope (horse parade), rides and tico style bullfighting. Tico bullfighting doesn’t injure the animal, but consists of daredevil ticos who attempt to touch the bull as it runs around the ring, armed with nothing but the clothes on their back and a bandana.

In our quiet time.
We do not speak, because the voices are within us.
It is our quiet time.
We do not walk, because the earth is all within us.
It is our quiet time…
We rest with all of nature…

Some photographers wait for weeks in order to catch that one great action shot, others have simply seen an opportunity, grabbed a camera and produced a unique picture of the natural world. The annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum (runs until 11 April 2010) shows new perspectives on familiar creatures and quirky corners of nature. Tragic shots of ruined landscapes provide a sharp contrast with, say, a cute close-up of a cuddly barn owl. The high profile competition is the most prestigious and successful event of its kind in the world. It is open to amateur and professional photographers and each year a panel of wildlife and photography experts scrutinise around 30,000 entries from a global pool for their composition and originality. The photos are, by turns, touching, inspiring, educational and tragic, but all of them provide an insight into a magical natural world. This is a stunning exhibition.

You can browse all the 2009 winning and commended images by clicking on the word wildlife

The 2010 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition opens on 11 January 2010.