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Carnival La Paz 2010 – Vive la Fiesta
Carnival 2011 should be March 3-8, 2011. Carnaval usually ends on Fat Tuesday (3/8/11) and has previously only been rescheduled when falling on an election weekend (dry weekends). This will make Carnaval later than usual, the weather will be great and the event more appealing to end of season cruisers.
Carnaval La Paz *Please note the correct spelling is - "Carnaval" meaning the end of carne (meat) for the period of Lent. It is spelled BOTH ways in this article for the benefit of Search Engines.
Click here for Program of Events 2010 in English (02/11 - 02/16)
Click here for Grande Ball Information (02/16/10)
Also see: Carnaval Ensenada Information
Most of the events are centered around the Esplanade along the Malecon, although events and stages will be in place in many locations along the waterfront.
UPDATE 02/02/10 Royal Court Announced
Sunday evening, January 31 at the Malecon bandstand kiosk the results of the voting for choice of Kings and Queens of the Carnival La Paz 2010 was announced. This year’s Carnaval bears the theme “Joy Bicentennial”, this being the 200th anniversary of the foundation of Mexico as a nation.
José Cruz Mendoza Cross will be crowned King of Joy, and Nahomy Alexandra Medellín will be crowned as Queen of the Carnaval La Paz 2010
The Prince of Joy to be crowned is Armando Amador Márquez Armandón. Winning the title of Queen of Poetry was Blanca Flor Machado. Susana Medina Nava was elected Princess Royal and Dulce Frias Búrquez as Princess of Poetry
The children's Carnival La Paz King & Queen will be Rafael Ramses Ibarra and Brianny Luisa María Díaz.
History of Carnaval La Paz
I did a little research on the origination of the word "carnaval". The general consensus is that it evolved during the middle ages, as part of the Roman Catholic ritual of lent. It gets a little more vague after that.
The Venetian seem to claim the most palatable explanation. The Shrove Thursday celebration is closely related to the history of the Serenissima Republic of Venice, consequently to the victory over Ulrico, Patriarch of Aquileia.
Ulrico's troops had attacked Venice while the "Serenissima" was busy fighting another war against the Ducati of Padova and Ferrara. Italy was a lively place, at that time.
After the defeat, Ulrico of Aquileia, had to pay the Venetians one bull and 12 pigs, as war reimbursement. (I wish invading Iraq had been so cheap!)
So, from that
moment on, the tradition was established of "executing" every year that
same amount of animals in the San Marco square, and all the population
participated to the feast, banquet, dances, acrobats. I found
this story stretched even a little further: Because Catholics are not
supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called their festival, carnevale
— which means “to put away the meat.” As time passed, Carnaval evolved. Carnavals in Italy became quite famous;
and in fact thepractice spread to France, Spain, and all the Catholic
countries in Europe. Then as the French, Spanish, and Portuguese began
to take control of the Americas and other parts of the world, they brought
with them their tradition of celebrating carnaval.
What
ever the historical interpretation of Carnaval I found one wood cut
datingfrom the middle of the last millennium that translated distinctly.
The imagery of the wild horse, the moon forming horns over the reveler's
head, all that can be interpreted in different ways. The open purse
dumping money on the ground is universal. With food, rides, cervesa,
tequila, novelties and just plain Carni-crap free flowing, it's easy
to loose hold of the purse strings.
One thing to consider when you are walking through the press of the crowds is that carnaval gathers the dark side of Baja in the same place. Mind your purse, camera's and wallets when out at night. The security provided by the local polica, state police and military will be vigilant and ever present
The press of the crowd can be overwhelming at times. I'm a big guy and years ago the crowd swept me down the Malécon, literally off my feet, some 1/2 a block past my waiting friends. I found carnaval more enjoyable in the earlier hours, before all the cerveza and tequila had a chance to soak into the crowd.
The evening parade is one of the highlights of the carnaval. Sunday though Tuesday at dusk the parade marches down the Malecón.
More below...
Headline Performers for Carnaval La Paz, 2010
Video from Carnaval 2008
There is
a reading, opening night and again on Sunday, by the winning poet laureate
in "The Game of Flowers or Florals". The Game of Florals goes back to
169 B.C.E. Roman times, when a competition was held for the street poets,
troubadours and bards where the winner was awarded a golden flower encrusted
with gems, of which to give the lady of his choosing. The competition
was dedicated to the Roman goddess Flora and is most likely the origin
of the term, 'to use flowery words'.
There is a king and queen. Some of the most beautiful women and a handful of men in La Paz come out of the woodwork to compete for this honor. The queen and her court ride on one float. Picking a winner has to be an incredibly difficult job, they are each flawless Baja Beauties. The parade King rides a few floats behind with his court. Funny enough though, there seemed to be a few more chicas on his float to keep the crowd watching and the queen on her toes. Plus there is the King of Fools, (see "Hunch back of Notre Dame") who rides his own float in the parade, tossing candy to the parade watchers.
Always keep your eye on the parade. There are larger gifts sometimes hurled to or from the crowd, like full, chilled cans of beer or soda. These gifts are much more appreciated when caught with the hand instead of the back of your head.
First. you have to understand that driving an 18 wheeler for Corona, Modelo or Pacifico pretty much puts you in the same crowd as Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretski in Mexico. Not only do you work with cervesa but you get PAID for it!
The floats in the parade are sponsored by major players in many different industries, Telcel, banks, race teams and civic organizations. Tossing candy and the occasional full can of beer to the crowd they went their way down the Malecón in their annual PR bust.
The first year I was here a fist fight broke out between the parade organizers and representative drivers from at least two different beer companies. Why? It was unclear or unacceptable as to which company would lead off the parade.
Organizers alternate parade routes, so each end of town
sees the parade first. But they have three days of parades and three
beer companies, each wanting to lead off the parade.The solution was three parades that night. One beer
company lead the way. Then there was a long pause. Many observers assumed
that that was it, and started wandering down the street towards the
main events at the Municipal Pier area. Soon the sea of humanity was
parted, and another set of flashing lights and motorcycles ushered the
second then third segments of the parade down the street.
There were some interesting
stage shows happening at the main stage at the foot of 16th de Septembre,
near the municipal pier. Big name Latin acts appeared nightly. National
television broadcast at least one night from the main stage. I don't
recognize many of the entertainers, but I have developed a taste for
a dozen Latina lovelies leaping about the stage in spandex and a handful
of sequins. There was a little more local talent on the main stage this
year including our local Polynesian dance academy students.
The
food, the aromas and the diversity of people you see at carnaval make
it the event. The carnaval rides are fun for many, I watched a leaky
hydraulic support rise and fall from the ground as 30 or so screaming
hi-G riders whirled overhead spewing change (and sometimes more) through
the crowd. I chose to remain on the ground and save my 5 pesos. But
then 
again, I jumped off a 300' bridge in Colorado with a rubber band
on my feet for much more money.
The location of the carival rides is in question at the pressing of this article. Several of the adult skill level rides are parked near the Hotel Los Arcos at the SW end of the Malecon, rather than the usual vacant lot location near the NE end of the Malecon activity.
Can't miss the blanket auctioneers. Selling blankets like they aren't going to make anymore tomorrow, these guys sell combination stacks at break neck speed. With home modified microphones blaring though sound systems Jimmy Page discarded four decades ago you soon discover that every phrase in Spanish ends in an "S". Yet there are those ardent blanket buyers who stand there, right in front of the speakers, waiting patiently for the auctioneer to package the "Elvis" bedspread with the Winnie the Poo comforter, then loose his mind and lets them sell for the ridiculous price of $180 pesos. (I found the prices a bit better than retail, best on the last two days of the carnaval)
It's a piece of Mexico folks,
if your in the area, don't miss out. If you missed out we'll see you
next Carnaval!
Tomas