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Mindelo has a thriving music scene and this is embodied in the vibrant and colourful carnivals that take place throughout the year. The fantastic Brazilian-style Mardi Gras carnival in February sees people from all over the world descend on Mindelo for three to four days of music, costumes, samba dancing, and partying throughout the nights. Like Rio, but smaller and closer to home with a real taste of the exotic side of the islands.
Yearly, on the feast of Mardi Gras (usually around February). The warm ups begin a couple of days before, with the Samba procession the night before Mardi Gras, and the actual Carnaval on the day of Mardi Gras.
Google map: bit.ly/HN1uBu
When Copenhagen goes all festive and international - I wish! Events are pretty much localized to Faelledparken. It tries to imitate the carnival in Rio de Janeiro but fails. Please don’t get me wrong, it is an amazing event in itself, in that Copenhagen goes multicultural for 48hrs. Fun is to be found for all ages, and the standard is high from those participating. They really, really try!
Faelledparken, opposite national football stadium (home of FCK), centre of Osterbro, follow Osterbrogade from Osterport Station and enter via Trianglen.
www.copenhagencarnival.dk/
When winter seems endless in the UK, a quick plane hop to he Algarve and a short journey to the Loulé where around Shrove Tuesday each year there is the most colourful carnival procession through the streets in weather that is always pleasantly springlike.
Loulé Carnival was 5 to 8 March this year. www.louleuncovered.com/events.aspx
and
www.carnaval2010.org/tag/loule-carnival-2011-schedule/
Google map: bit.ly/idnAat
The Venice Carnival is a photographer's dream with figures dressed in costumes ranging from the absolutely beautiful to the bizarre.
Most people go to St Mark's Square to take pictures on the last days of Carnival. There are many fantastic images to be found but the square gets incredibly crowded and shots have to be taken quickly and often onlookers get in the way. My tip therefore is to move away from the square to other, quieter locations where you will encounter some of the more professional models who will be prepared to give you much more time to pose them and to compose your pictures.
The best time to try is late morning and promising locations are outside the Salute Church, the walk between Accademia and S. Toma vaporetto stops (taking in Campo S. Baranaba) and the walk between San Marco and Campo Santo Stefano. Indeed, many of the main piazzas and campos are a good bet. This is a great opportunity to get away from the crowds and work with some good amateur models.
To take photographs simply ask politely and if language is a problem, indicating the camera is usually enough to start taking pictures.
Most towns and villages in Schwarzwald have carnival customs. There are events happening from the Thursday before Shrove Tuesday through to Ash Wednesday and sometimes beyond. The customs vary from small groups of children going from house to house collecting food to huge processions featuring traditional characters dressed in amazing costumes and wearing carved wooden masks. Highlights for us have been Empfingen (for the Strawbears) and Elzach (watch out for the pigs’ bladders) on the Sunday, Villingen-Schwenningen on the Monday and Oberndorf and Schömberg on the Tuesday.
www.schwarzwald.com/events/fasnacht.html
Google map: bit.ly/dZCa0N
Mention the words carnival and South America and you will probably think Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. However, the carnival in Oruro, an old mining town in Bolivia, is gaining ground and becoming a popular destination for tourists.
The Oruro Carnival is the second largest carnival in Latin America. UNESCO was so impressed with it that they declared the Oruro Carnival an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2001. It made us locals very proud.
As a native of Oruro I may be biased but to me the Oruro carnival is the place where fantasy, reality, religion and mysticism blend together and come alive for a week long celebration.
Oruro is a small, sleepy (and dusty) old town high in the Andean plateau at over 3700 metres above sea level.
Thousands of dancers and musicians in amazing and sometimes outlandish costumes descend (or rather ascend) to the town of Oruro the first week of February or March (depending on when Lent is) and party for nearly a week. But the preparations for the carnival start in late October or November the year before with dance rehearsals and plenty of partying every Saturday.
The actual carnival comprises of many different types of dances and music from different regions of Bolivia. There are dancers representing the Andean regions, the valleys and the rainforests of Bolivia. The centre piece of the carnival however is La Diablada or the Devils’ dance.
The dancers have to be very fit as they have to dance for about four or five kilometres in full costume. Some of the costumes (like the ones from the Diablada or Morenada) weigh upwards of 25 kilos depending on the complexity of the design and embroidery of the costumes and design of the masks.
When I was growing up in Oruro one of my favourite things about the carnival, apart from the dancing, were the water balloon fights. So take plenty of changes of clothes, buy yourself a water gun, water balloons and join in the water fights.
Also due to the altitude going to Oruro is not for the fainthearted. Make sure when you go there you first acclimatise to the altitude for a few days prior to the carnival; otherwise it will be very difficult for you to walk fast let alone dance along with the parades of dancers.
Three hours from La Paz by coach. Get in touch with travel agents with plenty of time because Oruro is a small town and hotels get booked very quickly.
www.travel-bolivia.com/carnaval-de-oruro.html
www.orurocarnaval.com/orurocarnaval1/
Google map: bit.ly/eKYeKA
A traditional pre-Lenten Caribbean carnival that is friendly, accessible to visitors and uncommercialised. It is a moveable feast determined by the timing of Lent and in 2011 the main event falls between March 7th and 8th. Mas Dominik is a mixture of African masquerade and French carnival traditions. Many of the costume designs are traditional such as the Sensay where the masquerader is completely hidden by a costume of raffia, rope or strips of material topped by a mask and cow horns. The opening of carnival or Jouvert begins at dawn on the first day. Individuals take to the streets in home made costumes or night clothes banging drums or saucepans, anyone can join in and the streets are very eerie at dawn, populated by shadowy figures and the sound of drums. This is followed by the joyous celebrations of the school bands and other traditional masqueraders. The climax on Carnival Tuesday features the costume bands who make several laps of the route. There is no space in the narrow streets for elaborate creations or large structures but this means the carnival action is close, neither locals or visitors can remain spectators for long and will find themselves jumping up behind a band or a truck that plays the current carnival tunes.
The main carnival events take place in and around the capital city Roseau, and it is compact enough that you could not possibly miss the carnival. You need to stay in or around the capital to make the most of the events as public transport is virtually non existent after dark and associated events such as calypso competitions take place late into the night.
www.dominicacarnival.com
www.avirtualdominica.com
www.dominica-weekly.com
Google map: bit.ly/e4cdUX
In Santa Cruz, Tenerife's capital, the locals are passionate about their carnival. This year it kicks off on Friday March 4 with “la cabalgata”, the opening parade complete with carnival queen, Rio-style “comparsa” dancing groups, “murga” clowns with their satirical songs about local politics and an ever-growing number of santacruceros of all ages, who've been impatiently counting the days. From then till Tuesday it's non-stop partying in the streets. As for costumes, anything goes ... no need for Venetian-style elegance here. No self-respecting reveller goes out before midnight so don't expect things to really warm up till well after then. There's plenty of live music from samba to salsa and good-natured fun. If you can stand the pace and survive the crowds, join the locals for “chocolate con churros” as you stagger home around breakfast time. Tuesday afternoon's parade is a more ordered, family-oriented affair. Much more fun is the “ Burial of the Sardine” on Ash Wednesday, symbolising the end of carnal pleasures. Wailing mourners in widow's weeds, mostly blokes in drag, follow the giant fish down to the main square, where it's burnt with great tragicomic ceremony, followed by a spectacular firework display. Final fling is the next weekend, mainly Saturday night so everyone can recover in time to resume normal life on Monday morning ... reluctantly.
www.carnavaltenerife.es/
Google map: bit.ly/eQuGGd
Dawlish carnival is one of Devon's largest carnivals. It's in August, with various events taking place during the week including a fair, battle of the bands, competitions, sporting events and fetes. The highlights of carnival week are the Dawlish International Airshow featuring the Red Arrows attracting around 80,000 visitors, and the carnival procession itself.
www.dawlishcarnival.com/
Google map: bit.ly/fjrG4d
The Bridgwater Carnival takes place on the Thursday before Bonfire night and is the largest of several carnivals which tour towns in central Somerset, to celebrate the anniversary of the 1605 gunpowder plot, when Guy Fawkes failed to blow up the English Houses of Parliament.
Taking place at night, the Carnival is a dramatic, illuminated procession of about 100 floats, each lit by thousands of light bulbs and playing music - they are powered by huge generators housed in trailers behind each float. Although a good idea to wrap up at this time of year, the warmth generated by all those lights and the fact that you can't help but dance the night away will all help to keep you warm! Each float is built by a Carnival club representing a town, pub or place of work in the area, with widely varying themes. It claims to be the largest illuminated carnival in Europe, attracting over 150,000 visitors.
A unique feature of the Bridgwater Carnival is the tradition of 'squibbing', which takes place after the procession. Squibs are huge hand-held fireworks, and about 100 are lit at once in a dramatic display. (The practice gives its name to the English expression of 'a damp squib')
The entire event is organised by volunteers and raises money for charity.
Google 'Bridgwater Carnival' - the web-site gives full details of how to watch the procession (early arrival is essential as many main roads are closed for the event) and alternative venues and dates in the different towns of the circuit - Burnham-on-Sea, Wells, Glastonbury and Weston-super-Mare. The web-site also has a photograph gallery from previous processions and video clips of squibbing.
Wikipedia has an excellent review of the history of the Carnival with some great photographs at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Country_Carnival
Put it in your diary now and make sure you come and see for yourself the most amazing carnival in Europe - you won't fail to be impressed and it will light up your winter!
Bridgwater, Somerset, UK
Google map: bit.ly/ijn26L
The granddaddy of all Caribbean carnivals, Trinidad Carnival is an assault on the senses. The scale of the event is hard to conceive of, as the bigger bands of masqueraders hold thousands, and the elaborate characters portrayed by some costumed players can take up two lanes of the road, towering 20 feet up in the air. Though the 'mas' is the main attraction during the two days before Ash Wednesday, during which the costumed revellers parade through the streets to the pulsating sounds of soca music, there are all kinds of public incredible events taking place in the preceding weeks, during which you encounter ancient traditional figures, such as stilt-walking Moko Jumbies, fearsome fire-breathing Blue Devils, gender-bending Dame Lorraines, percussive Tamboo-Bamboo bands, plus Fancy Sailors and Bats, to name but a few. The steel pan orchestras are another delight, with the larger bands comprising hundreds of players, and surprisingly complex pieces of music executed solely on oil drums.
If you've ever enjoyed the Notting Hill Carnival, you owe it to yourself to experience the real thing, for in Trinidad, Carnival is celebrated by the entire populace. People from all ethnic groups and social classes, young and old alike, are all participants in what can be seen as a cultural outpouring and public display of the nation’s soul. The Trinis are also a very welcoming bunch who really know how to party, and although Port of Spain is not a particularly touristic place, the vibrant culture, superb cuisine, incredible ethnic mix, the thriving arts and media scene, and the rum make it all the more enticing. A good place to stay is in the suburb of Woodbrook, where a handful of guest houses and hotels line the main Carnival route, and where good restaurants, bars and live music venues are within walking distance, as is the massive Queen's Park Savannah, where many of the larger events are held, such as the steel pan competition known as Panorama, plus the Calypso Monarch competitions, etc.
Trinidad Carnival simply has to be experienced to be believed, and joining a carnival band and playing mas yourself is the best way to experience it.
www.gotrinidadandtobago.com/trinidad/carnival/
Google map: bit.ly/gvIMum
Each year Basel in Switzerland holds its Fastnacht which is three days of processions, small bands wandering the streets playing piccolos and drums and people in costume reciting stories in cafes. There is a lot of fun and mayhem with a lot of confetti thrown (being Swiss it is cleaned up very quickly.) This year the carnival starts on 14th March it always begins at 4am in the market place. Everywhere is very dark and quiet then at 4am precisely a procession of lanterns comes into the square, the drummers start drumming and the piccolos are played.The square is filled with light and sound. It is magical and a true feast for eyes and ears.
I lived in Basel some years ago and have never forgotten the magic of their carnival.
www.basel.ch/en/
Google map: bit.ly/g8uiRr
Every October this small town, some 70km NW of Tokyo, goes into full-on celebration mode with an exuberant festival, or 'matsuri'. Gigantic, eerily lifelike 'dolls' are paraded through the streets on floats, complete with attendants and musicians in full traditional costume. Everyone turns out to graze on uniquely Japanese fast-food from the dozens of street stalls, take boat-trips down the Ono river and peek into some of the beautiful old houses - rare survivals in modern Japan. We stumbled across it by chance as it seems to be ignored by the major guidebooks, and had a wonderful day there. A real not-to-be-missed event if you're anywhere near at the right time.
Sawara, Chiba Prefecture. 1 hr 30 mins by bus from Tokyo Station on the Keisei Line, or 30 mins from Narita Airport.
Google map: bit.ly/fd1OYt
A different sort of carnival happens in January for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Epiphany celebrations, in this 17th century town.
Thousands of white clad Ethiopians descend on the town for the surreal and astonishing Timket – a fusion of African and Judeo Christian expression of faith as the replica Ark of the Covenant from each church is paraded through town accompanied by priests chanting clapping and drumming. Brightly coloured velvet umbrellas shade the arks and red carpets are repeatedly laid, swept, rolled up and passed overhead to the front for the ark to be paraded over as it makes its way forward.
For heathens like us it was fascinating – for Christians and Jews it has a whole different meaning. Lucky tourists get a grandstand view of the blessing of King Fasilidas’s pool prior to mass immersion by the faithful (nearly all young men!) Don’t go if you are uneasy in a crowd!
The accompanying carnival has just been created to take advantage of the punters, with music, fireworks and stalls selling traditional Ethiopian handicrafts, coffee, food and drink. Ethiopian traditional dancing (belly dancing for the shoulders) spontaneously erupts around town. But the main attraction is Timket which is a carnival in itself.
Cut out the middle man and book direct with experienceethiopia.com who tailor made a trip for us inc internal flights (we did the international bit) Amanuel (Yeamanuel@yahoo.com) will do the Gonder bit if that is all you want, including trekking in the Simien mountains.
Google map: bit.ly/f27tur
Cádiz has one of the oldest Carnivals in the world thanks to its historical port that saw its sailors return home from afar with fashions and trinkets that would be worn during street parties. Groups continue this tradition by dressing as today's celebrities while singing songs about current news topics. They are surrounded by other revelers, who are also dressed up, resembling a massive British stag do party. The atmosphere, however, is far more jubilant and set within this beautiful city with its narrow cobbled alleys and tiny bars serving delicious Andalucian food, make this a free and democratic street party that cannot be missed.
www.andalucia.com/festival/carnival-cadiz.htm
Google map: bit.ly/gccNiN
The Gualeguaychu carnival is supposed to be the second largest carnival in South America after Buenos Aires. It's a competition that runs Saturdays in January and February, with the final in March. We went in 2010 and had an amazing time. We booked accommodation well in advance and we were one of the only tourist there. There was a great vibe in town and there were people from all over Argentina. We stood near the front and we had a family standing next to us that came all the way from Uruguay. They said they come every year. The parade started around 7am and didn't finish until 2am, after which street parties continued all through the night. The town is 230km north of Buenos Aires. Afterwards we headed to a lovely Estancia, called San Ambrosio not far from Gualeguaychu for some ultra relaxation in a stunning setting with a lovely owner.
Gualeguaychu, 230km North of Buenos Aires.
Estancia San Ambrosio, Gualeguay, estanciasanambrosio.com
Google map: bit.ly/hcDCR7
Japan is a land of elegance, etiquette and tradition, and most of the street festivals reflect that, and can seem a touch staid.
However this is also the land of the quirky and downright daft, and one of it’s oddest carnivals is without doubt the Mount Tsukuba Toad Festival. This takes place every August at the Tsukuba Shinto Shrine, and is in honour of the toads that have surrendered their lives to the production of toad grease since feudal times, when it was believed that it protected the skin against sword wounds.
The shrine itself is toad shaped, and large models of the sacrificial amphibians are held aloft and paraded on palanquins. The traditional costumes and music are fabulous, and some of the dance displays are truly strange. As the sake flows aplenty, you’ll find yourself tempted by the array of ‘toady’ wares on offer.
This unique night ends with a spectacular firework display.
Tsukuba is 50km north east of Tokyo and takes an hour by train.
tsukubainfo.jp/Events/MountTsukubaToadFestival
Google map: bit.ly/g8TCoa
If you enjoy a carnival atmosphere, but Brazil is too far to go, I recommend taking a trip to Cadiz in the Costa de la Luz area of Spain as the town goes carnival crazy and is host to one of the most spectacular and famous carnivals in the whole of Spain. People flock here from all over the country to enjoy this four day event packed full of music, parades and street theatre. Be prepared for late nights and lots of refuelling at one of the many tapas bars. What makes it so special, this is true Spanish culture and as far removed from the other Costa's diluted tourist traps as possible. Vámonos.
www.carnavaldecadiz.com/
Google map: bit.ly/fZ5ENg
On the Sunday night after Mardi Gras, start the Swiss Fasnacht celebration by visiting the small and sleepy town of Liestal. On that day though, the town will not appear sleepy at all, as it is the day of the Chienbäse parade. This tradition dates back to the 16th century and involves the town’s strongmen and women carrying burning broomsticks through the city to chase away the evil spirits. If that is not enough excitement, watch the flames of huge wagons piled up high with burning wood licking the roof of the narrow town gate. Surely, health and safety regulations in most countries would not allow a parade of that kind!
Continue the celebration of a different carnival, maybe less cheerful but wonderfully spooky and impressive, at precisely 4am on Monday after Ash Wednesday. Experience a city coming to life in the dark, as all street-lights are switched off to fully appreciate the groups of Fasnächtler meandering through the crowded streets of Basel, carrying beautifully hand-crafted lanterns on their heads and in their hands. Accompanied by drums and piccolo flutes, the lanterns wander through the city displaying current issues of interest in politics, world and local, usually in a mocking and sarcastic way. The Fasnächtler are disguised wearing the Larve (traditional mask), which are usually rather ugly and scary – so be prepared to jump if one of these comes up from behind in a dark city backstreet, as there are no fixed routes and a group can turn up anywhere you walk. Finish this early morning experience in a Beize (pub) with a traditional meal of Mehlsuppe (flour soup), Chäsweihe (delicious Swiss cheese quiche) or Zwiebelkuchen (onion quiche), and watch all the locals wandering off to work.
www.fasnacht.ch
www.fasnacht-liestal.ch
Google map: bit.ly/gZgLF3
The longest and best carnival in the world. Why? The longest because it lasts more than 40 days. The best because of the passion, the colours, the music and the traditions (Africa-Americas-Europe). Although it is hosted in Montevideo, the capital of the country, it involves the whole nation. From January to March everybody breaths, eats and dreams of carnival ... and the rest of the year they are preparing for it. It starts with several parades in the main avenue and traditional neighborhoods at the drum's rhythm of the candombe. The election of the queens, the competitions, the public itself is a show. After the parades it celebrates a contest with several categories of a kind of theatrical opera performed by the murgas in the tablados (stages) including several categories full of music and very sarcastic comedy. And the best of all is that you see people from 0 to 100+ years old enjoying in the same way.
If the carnival is not enough, you still have the museums, the football, friendly people, the food (steaks!), the beaches and the beautiful women to really enjoy Uruguay.
The truth is that only by being in Montevideo during January-March you learn the real meaning of the word carnival.
www.welcomeuruguay.com/carnavales/index_i.html
Google map: bit.ly/ifgkrT
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