It's party time in Brazil as Carnival gets under way

Brazil: Carnival frenzy is sweeping Brazil as the South American powerhouse prepares Friday to launch a week of sizzling samba dancing, glittering parades, and unabashed merry-making.

Over the next days this racially diverse country of 191 million people will come to a standstill for the pre-Lent bacchanalian festival that is its most popular holiday.

As in previous years, Salvador de Bahia, Brazil's third largest city and the heart of the rich Afro-Brazilian culture, led the way, with hundreds of thousands of revelers people pouring into the streets late Thursday to dance and party.

The theme for this year's Carnival in Salvador is "The Carnival Country," the title of a 1931 novel by Jorge Amado, in homage to the late Bahian author as the city marks the 100th anniversary of his birth.

But the global spotlight will be on Rio Friday when the "Marvelous City" kicks off its Carnival extravaganza, world-famous for its sumptuous parades of elaborately decorated fantasy floats and scantily-dressed women.

The five-day mega-event will be broadcast live around the world.

Carnival in Rio generates 250,000 jobs and revenues of some $640 million for hotels, bars and restaurants, according to state officials.

City officials expect more than than five million people, including 850,000 tourists, to attend.

There had been fears that unrest in Brazil's state police force might disrupt the Carnival festivities in Salvador and Rio, but police strikes in those cities were settled just in time.

Milton Junior -- better known as King Momo, the Rio Carnival's chubby symbol of excess -- was to be crowned Friday. AFP