Masked figure in costume at the 2012 Carnival, Venice, Veneto, Italy, Europe

Masked figure in costume at the 2012 Carnival, with Ponte di Sospiri in the background, Venice, Veneto, Italy, Europe

Masked figure of Christ in Maundy Thursday procession through streets, Marsala, Sicily, Italy, Europe

Dancers in ornate colourful national costumes at a carnival in Trinidad.

Masked figure at festival, Japan, Asia

Man wearing a Lucifer costume strangling a smiling woman, crude carnival characters and satirical sculptures at a parade, Fallas festival, Falles festival in Valencia in early spring, Spain, Europe

Haberer, masked German figure, folklore, Christmas market, Muehldorf am Inn, Upper Bavaria, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

Crude carnival characters and satirical sculptures, woman filming a gay wedding, Fallas festival, Falles festival in Valencia in early spring, Spain, Europe

Gap-toothed musicians wearing uniforms, sculptures of the Faculty of Drinkers at a parade, Fallas festival, Falles festival in Valencia in early spring, Spain, Europe

Crude carnival characters and satirical sculptures at a parade, Fallas festival, Falles festival in Valencia in early spring, Spain, Europe

Woman dominating a man, footmen rolling out the red carpet, crude carnival characters and satirical sculptures at a parade, Fallas festival, Falles festival in Valencia in early spring, Spain, Europe

Basque man with a stuck-up nose wearing a beret, crude carnival characters and satirical sculptures at a parade, Fallas festival, Falles festival in Valencia in early spring, Spain, Europe

Haberer, masked German figure, folklore, Christmas market, Muehldorf am Inn, Upper Bavaria, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

Crude carnival characters and satirical sculptures at a parade, Fallas festival, Falles festival in Valencia in early spring, Spain, Europe

Mask wearer, Hindu Vaishnava monastery on the island of Majuli, Brahmaputra, Assam, India, Asia

Crude carnival characters and satirical sculptures at a parade, Fallas festival, Falles festival in Valencia in early spring, Spain, Europe

Cosplayer wearing a horse-head mask, Japan Day, Duesseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Europe

Crude carnival characters and satirical sculptures at a parade, Fallas festival, Falles festival in Valencia in early spring, Spain, Europe

Crude carnival characters and satirical sculptures at a parade, Fallas festival, Falles festival in Valencia in early spring, Spain, Europe

Carnival procession, Fasendumzug, Alemannic Fasnacht, Gengenbach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Europe

Thilo Sarrazin, impaling Turkish migrants, paper-mache figures, satirical themed parade float at the Rosenmontagszug Carnival Parade 2011, Duesseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Krampus characters, Perchtenlauf parade, Siezenheim, Salzburg, Austria, Europe

Christ figure, masked carriers in red hoods, Easter procession, Altea, Alicante, Spain, Europe