AP PHOTOS: In Rio and beyond, Carnival brings euphoria and release to Brazilians

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — It’s that time of year in Rio de Janeiro: Carnival!

Carnival in the Brazilian city has two sides: the street parties, known as blocos, and the parades at the legendary Sambadrome.

Since Friday afternoon, hundreds of street parties have been roving through Rio’s streets, each with its own aesthetic, theme or musical style. They’re raucous, rambunctious romps with thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of partygoers.

There are also street vendors who race across parks and up hills, from downtown to Copacabana and Ipanema, to position their carts loaded up with beer and water to quench the thirst of the revelers.

The schools are mostly based in working-class communities known as favelas that often go overlooked. This is their one shot each year to claim the spotlight, get recognition — and maybe even glory.

Judges spread along the avenue evaluate the parade in nine categories, among them costumes, drumming and harmony, and residents work almost all year for this. They pound the drums with perfect synchrony, sing their hearts out and samba till their feet hurt.

It’s music, dance, storytelling, culture. It’s beauty and it’s fleeting, with each parade lasting about 75 minutes until — poof — all done.

But soon enough, samba schools start looking toward next year’s parade. In Rio, time marches on, with a smile.

In the northeastern city of Olinda, revelers crammed the cobblestone streets joined by towering puppets up to 13 feet (4 meters) high. They depicted Brazilian and foreign musicians, soccer stars Neymar and Lionel Messi, U.S. President Donald Trump and — most importantly this year — Fernanda Torres. Her best actress Oscar nomination has transformed her into Brazil’s Carnival muse nationwide and created a World Cup-esque atmosphere.

There are Carnival celebrations underway even in small towns. Sleepy, seaside Paraty, a few hours’ drive south of Rio, saw hundreds of joyous partyers throw themselves into the silty shallows, emerging gray from the mud and then proceeding to dance and parade on the beach. In Sao Paulo state’s countryside, thousands of revelers, families and tourists sang and danced through the colorful, colonial streets of Sao Luiz do Paraitinga to the tune of traditional Carnival marches.

In Brazil, it’s said that the new year doesn’t begin until Carnival comes to a close, and that hour is fast approaching.

In the meantime: Viva o Carnaval!