Carnival

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A festival celebrated with merriment and revelry in Roman Gatholic countries during the week before Lent, esp. at Rome and Naples, during a few days (three to ten) before Lent, ending with Shrove Tuesday. The carnival at Venice is everywhere talked of. Addison.

2. Any merrymaking, feasting, or masquerading, especially when overstepping the bounds of decorum; a time of riotous excess. Tennyson. He saw the lean dogs beneath the wall Hold o'er the dead their carnival Byron.