The Purim festival, celebrated around the world on Thursday, is one of the most colourful and eye-catching days in the Jewish calendar. The annual celebration in the Hebrew calendar is marked on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar.
The Jewish community don their best fancy dress outfits and take part in the day-long festivities to commemorate the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot to exterminate them in the ancient Persian empire 2,500 years ago, as recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther.
Purim Festival In Pictures
(01 of41)
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish children wearing costumes play in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak near the coastal city of Tel Aviv. (credit:MENAHEM KAHANA via Getty Images)
(02 of41)
A group of young acrobats during the Adloyada in Holon, the biggest Purim parade in Israel. (credit:Pacific Press via Getty Images)
(03 of41)
Girls wearing costumes at the Adloyada in Holon, the biggest Purim parade in Israel. (credit:Pacific Press via Getty Images)
(04 of41)
Brazilian dancer at the Adloyada in Holon. (credit:Pacific Press via Getty Images)
(05 of41)
A boy with a big circle globe at the Adloyada in Holon, the biggest Purim parade in Israel. Adloyada is a humorous procession held in Israel in the Jewish holiday of Purim were thousands of the city's residents lined the streets as they came out to enjoy the warm sunny weather and cheer on the procession. (credit:Pacific Press via Getty Images)
(06 of41)
A girl in a costume at the Adloyada in Holon, the biggest Purim parade in Israel. Adloyada is a humorous procession held in Israel in the Jewish holiday of Purim. (credit:Pacific Press via Getty Images)
(07 of41)
A group of young acrobats during the Adloyada in Holon. (credit:Pacific Press via Getty Images)
(08 of41)
Surfers wear costumes during the Purim festival surfing competition in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, March 5, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(09 of41)
A boy wears a fake beard during a snowstorm on Purim, Thursday, March 5, 2015 in the Williamsburg neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(10 of41)
Dancers perform during a Purim festival in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, March 5, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(11 of41)
Surfers wear costumes during the Purim festival surfing competition in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, March 5, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(12 of41)
Dressed up Israelis take part in a parade during the festivities of the Jewish Purim festival on March 5, 2015 in the central Israeli city of Netanya. (credit:JACK GUEZ via Getty Images)
(13 of41)
Dressed up Israelis take part in a parade during the festivities of the Jewish Purim festival on March 5, 2015 in the central Israeli city of Netanya. (credit:JACK GUEZ via Getty Images)
(14 of41)
Dressed up Israelis take part in a parade during the festivities of the Jewish Purim festival on March 5, 2015 in the central Israeli city of Netanya. (credit:JACK GUEZ via Getty Images)
(15 of41)
Dressed up Israeli settlers take part in a parade during the festivities of the Jewish holiday of Purim on March 5, 2015 in the West Bank town of Hebron. (credit:HAZEM BADER via Getty Images)
(16 of41)
A group of Orthodox Jewish boys dance in the home of a local businessmen while collecting money for their school during the Jewish holiday of Purim on March 5, 2015 in London, England. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(17 of41)
Jewish people are seen during Purim Festival, a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire where a plot had been formed to destroy them, in Hebron, West Bank on March 05, 2015. (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
(18 of41)
A Jewish man and a young girl dresses as a clown cycle through the streets during the Jewish holiday of Purim on March 5, 2015 in London, England. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(19 of41)
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men wearing costumes attend the celebration of the feast of Purim in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak near the coastal city of Tel Aviv on March 5, 2015. (credit:MENAHEM KAHANA via Getty Images)
(20 of41)
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish children wearing costumes play in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak near the coastal city of Tel Aviv on March 5, 2015 during the feast of Purim. (credit:MENAHEM KAHANA via Getty Images)
(21 of41)
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish youth pose during celebration of the feast of Purim in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak near the coastal city of Tel Aviv on March 5, 2015. (credit:MENAHEM KAHANA via Getty Images)
(22 of41)
A group of Orthodox Jewish boys gather around a car to try and collect money during the Jewish holiday of Purim. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(23 of41)
Orthodox Jewish boys dance in the street before going into the home of a local businessmen while collecting money for their school. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(24 of41)
People gather in the home of a local business man during the Jewish holiday of Purim on March 5, 2015 in London, England. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(25 of41)
A group of Orthodox Jewish boys gather around a car to try and collect money during the Jewish holiday of Purim. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(26 of41)
Orthodox Jewish boys dance in the street before going into the home of a local businessmen while collecting money for their school. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(27 of41)
A Jewish family, with children in fancy dress walk through the streets collecting money for their school. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(28 of41)
Jewish families watch from the sidelines during the Jewish holiday of Purim. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(29 of41)
Jewish people are seen during Purim Festival, a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire where a plot had been formed to destroy them, in Hebron, West Bank. (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
(30 of41)
Malka Merlin, 9, (L) and sister Shiendy, 6, wear BA stewardess themed fancy dress. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(31 of41)
A Jewish child dressed as a clown. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(32 of41)
A group of Jewish children in fancy dress stand outside their home. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(33 of41)
A young Jewish child wears fancy dress during the Jewish holiday of Purim on March 5, 2015 in London. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(34 of41)
Dressed up Israelis take part in activities during the festivities of the Jewish Purim festival. (credit:JACK GUEZ via Getty Images)
(35 of41)
Jewish girls dressed up in costumes walk through a snowstorm on Purim, Thursday, March 5, 2015 in the Williamsburg neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(36 of41)
A Jewish girl in fancy dress walks down the street collecting money for their school during the Jewish holiday. (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(37 of41)
A dressed up Israeli takes part in a parade during the festivities of the Jewish Purim festival on March 5, 2015 in the central Israeli city of Netanya. (credit:JACK GUEZ via Getty Images)
(38 of41)
Dressed up Israelis take part in a parade during the festivities of the Jewish Purim festival on March 5, 2015 in the central Israeli city of Netanya. (credit:JACK GUEZ via Getty Images)
(39 of41)
Dressed up Israelis take part in a parade during the festivities of the Jewish Purim festival on March 5, 2015 in the central Israeli city of Netanya. (credit:JACK GUEZ via Getty Images)
(40 of41)
A dressed-up Israeli baby takes part in a parade during the festivities of the Jewish Purim festival on March 5, 2015 in the central Israeli city of Netanya. (credit:JACK GUEZ via Getty Images)
(41 of41)
Surfers wear costumes during the Purim festival surfing competition in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, March 5, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)