The Carnival is a festival celebrated in almost every Christian region of the world in February and March. The festival has its origins in the Christian period of Lent but has now become a grand spectacle of parades, dancing and making merry. It has developed its own symbolism and is loaded with garish costumes, vibrant colors and loud music. It offers the perfect material for video slots, and therefore it is surprising that not too many of the leading online casino software providers have slots games with this theme.

Microgaming offers two online slots based on the Carnival theme. One of them is titled Carnaval, which is how the event is known in Rio. Incidentally the Rio event is the most famous and popular one. As expected the setting is bold and bright and the background music has a strong beat. The largest payout of 5,000 coins is offered by the Carnaval Logo symbol. Two characters have become an integral feature of the Carnival parades. One is the Samba girl with her feathered dress and the other is the jester. Both are used as symbols in this slot game. The other symbols include the pendant, the trumpet and the high value card symbols. The Wild Logo is the wild symbol and the Scatter Logo is the scatter symbol. The Microgaming Carnaval slot game does not feature free spins or bonus games.

The second Microgaming video slot with the Carnival theme is Mardi Gras Fever. In many places Carnival is referred to as Mardi Gras. The symbols bring alive the parade. There is the queen of the pageant, the crown that she wears and the alligator that is her mascot. As she rides atop the float, she is accompanied by dancing girls, jesters, bands and revelers in masks. New Orleans is the scene of this slot game where Bourbon Street is the centre of the festivity and the Mississippi showboat features in the parades. The Bourbon Street symbol triggers the bonus game in which players choose three out of twelve squares to win bonus credits. The jester awards five free spins with payouts multiplied ten times.

Samba Nights from Cryptologic is the latest Carnival themed slot game and this is apparent from the styling of its graphics. The festive atmosphere has been perfectly created. One of the exciting features of Samba Nights is that it offers 50 paylines across four rows of symbols. The Samba Girl is the wild symbol and it doubles payouts when substituting in winning combinations. It appears stacked on the reels. If the stack covers all rows the symbol expands to form a full length Samba girl gyrating wildly. The scatter symbol is the famous beach of Rio de Janeiro. During the animations it gets lit up by fireworks. The Beach symbol also triggers the free spins bonus. The other characters in the parade are represented as symbols. They include the fire eater, the trumpeter and the tambourine man. Drinking is a part of the merry making and this is covered by the cocktails symbol. The high value cards are designed in bold colors with a psychedelic appearance in keeping with the festive atmosphere.

Carnaval and Mardi Gras Fever are live at Microgaming online casinos like All Slots, Roxy Palace, River Belle and Platinum Play. Samba Nights can be played at Cryptologic online casinos like InterCasino.