The 2012 Carnival in Rio Janeiro concluded on a high note on Saturday night with the previously declared samba champions parading to the city's Sambadrome stadium. The grand celebration is said to have attracted 800 thousand tourists and raked in some 600 million US dollars to the city.

A reveller from the Grande Rio samba school takes part in the second night of the annual Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome February 21, 2012.

Exuberance, style and creativity were once again evident on the final day of Carnival 2012 in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night.

The Portela school, which came 6th in the overall standings, was the first to parade in Sambadrome. The drum queen of was disappointed, but looking forward to next year.

Sharon Menezes, Portela drum queen, said, "I think we deserved a better a place in the overall standings, but next year we will work hard and come back stronger."

In a surprising result, Unidos da Tijuca came out on top and was named the winner of Rio's Carnival of 2012. But nobody is surprised that Rio has once again presented the world with a feast of festive culture.

But the partying doesn't stop here. Tourists take to the streets on Sunday to enjoy the last day of the week-long celebrations in the festival of Mardi Gras, which marks the start of Lent in the run-up to Easter.