carnaval

le carnaval (FR N-M) Carnival, period of the church year reserved for indulgent festivities, extending from Epiphany (6 January) until Ash Wednesday in Lent, the penitential season prior to Easter; the entertainments associated with the period; a grotesque mannequin personifying the carnival. Although it can be traced to pagan times, carnival as we know it began in Europe with the rise of Christianity, as an appropriation of the pagan rites of Lupercalia and Saturnalia. Each year on the 15th of…