Most people associate Carnival with Brazil's widely covered costumed cavalcade.
But slightly off that glittery path is a lesser known bacchanal that gives Rio a run for its rhinestones.
From New Orleans to the Netherlands, people anxiously await this week's 24-hour period dedicated to decadence -- in Trinidad, however, the preparation for penance has been in progress for days, with partying, or "fetting," beginning long before Fat Tuesday.
Trinidad Carnival is known as the biggest party on Earth (a tricky claim to calculate, but it's hard to argue when you're in the midst of it), but it's nothing like its pre-Lenten counterparts.
However, it's Trinidad's J'ouvert tradition that really sets its Carnival apart.
J'ouvert, a contraction of the French "jour ouvert" (daybreak) is a street party in which revelers smear paint, clay and chocolate on each other while dancing through the streets of Port of Spain from 2 a.m. until well past sunrise.
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