Carnival

Türkiye Cultural Road Festival starts today with the 12th International Orange Blossom Carnival, which is organized every year in Adana and this year included in the scope of the cultural road events.

Türkiye Cultural Road Festival hits the road today in the southern province of Adana, the first leg of the event, and will continue until April 21 with various events.

Athens residents who aren't planning to go anywhere for the long Carnival and Clean Monday weekend are in for a treat, as nearly 60,000 cars passed through the toll stations leading out of the Greek capital between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday.

The exodus is expected to continue through Saturday.

Health authorities in the western port of Patra on Thursday sought to assure the public that a small cluster of meningitis cases at the city's university is being dealt with and should not put off revelers hoping to join the country's biggest Carnival festivities this weekend.

Unique carnival customs in cities and villages of Greece that impress their visitors every year

A lot of reactions and negative comments - "In satyrs everything is allowed. Except for one: the insult to the personality of each of our fellow human beings" said the mayor of South Corfu, Vassilis Himariotis for the carnival in the village of Moraitika

Athens is firmly in the swing of 'Apokries,' the three-week carnival celebration leading up to Lent, with a series of events featuring colorful costumes, street parades and lively performances at the Kypseli Municipal Market (42 Fokionos Negri).

A man grills meat to be distributed to revellers, in front of city's main meat market, during the celebrations of Tsiknopempti or "Smoky Thursday," dedicated to grilling of meat, part of the Greek Carnival season in Athens, Thursday. [Reuters]

The Stavros Niarchos Cultural Foundation (137 Syngrou, snfcc.org) has a rich Apokries (Greek Carnival) agenda planned for visitors and locals alike, as music performances and family happenings set the tone for a vibrant two-day celebration in various parts of the center's park. On March 17, experience Brazilian rhythms by Bloco Swingueira and rock 'n' roll classics by the Jaguar Bombs.

The U.S. state of Lousiana's New Orleans bade a typically joyous goodbye to Carnival season on Feb. 13 with Mardi Gras parades, street parties and what amounted to a massive outdoor costume festival around the bars and restaurants in the French Quarter.

France's northern seaside city of Dunkirk is revelling in its increasingly popular annual carnival where tens of thousands dress up in eccentric outfits, dance in the streets and catch herrings outside the town hall.