Gay parade wraps up Rio carnival

Rio de Janeiro's famed Carnival celebrations wrap up with last street carnival and the Gay Gala Ball.

Thousands of Brazilians and tourists gathered in Rio de Janeiro's famed Ipanema Beach on Tuesday for the last street party known as Ipanema Band.

Revellers donned costumes and danced through the streets as Carnival celebrations wrapped up before Ash Wednesday.

Hundreds of tireless revellers flocked to the Gay Gala Ball on Tuesday night which ends the wild pre-Lent Carnival.

Hundreds of onlookers gathered outside the ball's entrance, now in its 29th year, to check out the men arriving in glittering miniskirts, evening dresses, bead-studded lingerie and feathered head-dresses.

- Reuters