Brazil’s Carnival revelry is ramping up, from the raucous street parties to the glitzy parades. Carnival kicked off Friday afternoon, with Saturday marking the first full day of the pre-Lenten festivities.

One of Saturday’s popular early-morning street parties is Friends of the Jaguar, on a beach looking across the water at Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf Mountain. Thousands of revelers are here, all decked out in leopard- and jaguar-print clothing.

Carnival got into full swing Friday night, with events sweeping the nation. In Sao Paulo, 14 samba schools compete to be the city's champions of this year's celebration.