Traditional carnivals are held in many Christian countries around the world on Shrove Tuesday. As it is the day before the fasting period of Lent begins, believers use up all their sugar, fat and eggs in foods such as pancakes. This gives Shrove Tuesday the name Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday.

Carnivals often involve masked devilish figures running riot through villages, scaring the locals. In this gallery, we look at some of the more bizarre carnivals that took place around the world on Shrove Tuesday 2015.