A spectacular carnival on the Caribbean coast of Colombia is under way with 1.5 million visitors expected over four days.
The Barranquilla celebration is claimed to be the second largest in the world and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage event.
Spanning more than two centuries, the carnival is a display of elaborate Caribbean customs and traditional dances.
But because of the negative reputation of Colombia during the decades-long conflict between the FARC rebels and government forces - as well as high crime rates - the carnival has only recently started to receive international attention.
Al Jazeera's Alessandro Rampietti reports from Barranquilla.
