This year’s carnival season will be the first fully unrestricted one for four years, so get those masks on and get ready to party! Here’s the dates you need to know:
Carnival is a Canarian obsession. That’s because these islands do it better than the rest of Spain, bringing Latin American style and vivacity to an event that was banned and suppressed for many years.
Carnival Dates:
ARRECIFE GRAND PARADE MONDAY FEBRUARY 20TH, 6PM.
Arrecife’s parade is always the first and biggest on the island, and nobody wants to miss it. It gathers near the football stadium/bus station from 5pm on and the whole gloriously chaotic explosion of noise and colour heads off towards the Cabildo at about 6pm.
SAN BARTOLOMÉ GRAND PARADE TUESDAY FEBRUARY 21ST.
San Bartolomé holds its own carnival parade on Shrove Tuesday, a public holiday on most of the island.
ARRECIFE, BURIAL OF THE SARDINE SEAFRONT. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND.
How does Arrecife mark the end of carnival? That’s obvious – by making a gigantic fish out of papier maché then holding an immense funeral parade for it before burning it on the beach.
PUERTO DEL CARMEN GRAND PARADE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25TH FROM 6PM.
Puerto del Carmen’s seafront route is one of the prettiest on the island, frequently taking place in front of a gorgeous sunset. It’s always popular with tourists. There’ll be further parades over the following weekends, and we’ll bring you full details in our March issue.
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