Cádiz Carnaval brings out the ‘crazies’
Spain has many festivals, but Carnaval has to be one of the most accessible. You don’t have to risk your life running with bulls or cop a tomato in the eye. But Carnaval IS one of Spain’s craziest and most enjoyable festivals. With that in mind, we and a bunch of friends decided to travel to the sea-side city of Cádiz (click on the link to read about Cádiz) to enjoy the festivities with the locals. If you would like to rub shoulders with guys in drag or your favourite movie characters while enjoying a lively atmosphere, then Carnaval is for you!
One of the huge sculptures overlooking the revellers in Cádiz
Carnaval is a festival celebrated in most Catholic countries celebrating the end of Lent and a traditional period of fasting for 40 days (normally around February/March). Although every town in Spain will celebrate the day, Tenerife and Cádiz are recognised as the two best parties with thousands of weirdos coming out of the woodwork in costumes and having a great time doing it. Laughter, parades, food, music and debauchery fill the streets day and night for 10 days straight.
Carnaval in Cádiz is a fun-filled event
Amateur weirdos that we are, we and a group of teacher friends rented a loft apartment through AirBnb in Cádiz and decided to make a weekend of it. We weren’t disappointed.
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- Fun and games at Carnaval Cádiz
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- Clowns galore at this huge party
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- Streets are decorated
What do you wear to Carnaval?
This is a key question. Carnaval in Cádiz is not for haute fashion types. There are essentially three groups of people who dress up at Carnaval: traditional types, bitsa’s and the hardcore groups.
Those who go the whole hog and either make or buy a complete costume… are gods at Carnaval
Traditional types typically wear masquerade masks or painted red cheeks, along with some minor clothing changes but generally not much more. Bitsa’s (short for people who wear ‘bits and pieces’) are those who throw a mask, maybe a cape and something funky into the mix to really get into Carnaval. Lazy people (or the last minute attendees) can also be lumped into this category as you can rock up to Cádiz and pick up something from the local euro stores or from one of the many vendors selling stuff on the street. Finally, there are the Hardcore groups who go the whole hog and co-ordinate as a group to either make or buy a complete costume for Carnaval. These people are gods at Carnaval.
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- Now that is a dedicated costume!
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- Fear not, there’s plenty of ‘firemen’ at Cádiz Carnaval
Getting to Cádiz
There are various options to get to Cádiz. Renfe have trains to Cádiz from some major cities and there are a few bus companies such as ALSA and Socibus that run services to Cádiz. Additional buses are running during Carnaval. We suggest you check these websites to decide which one works best for you. Be aware that the buses stop outside of old town, so be prepared to walk a decent walk, or take a taxi into the action at old town. If you are planning to stay overnight during Carnaval, BOOK AHEAD! We booked four months in advance, and found a lot of places were already booked out. If however, you have the stamina of a 20-something backpacker on steroids (or have left your plans too late), you can always do what many do, and catch the train (in costume for extra points!) and party all night until the first train departs the following day (around 6:40am).
The Calm Before the Storm
The beautiful seaside village of Cádiz is a great destination throughout the year
When we first arrived, the streets were alive but only kids were dressed up with a few adults in costume scattered here and there for good measure. We spent the morning walking around and admiring the beautiful scenery of the old town of Cádiz, had lunch out at a buzzing restaurant and took photos of the two-storey figurines which are prepared especially for Carnaval in Cádiz each year.
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- Colourful decorations
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- Larger than life figurines
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- Decorated streets
As the day progressed, the numbers grew until the streets were literally filled with every type of costume you could imagine. We bought some cheap drinks from the local supermarket and started the party at home (recommended for budget travellers) before heading out around 8:30pm.
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- Music bands walking through the streets are common at Carnaval
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- ‘Chirigotas’ are formed groups that perform comical songs throughout the day. They are spread throughout the city
Carnaval had arrived!
Let me boil Carnaval in Cádiz down to its bare essentials.
Step 1: Gather friends in costume in main square.
Step 2: Either bring your own or buy drinks from the bars or local supermarkets.
Step 3: Proceed to drink said alcohol, have a laugh with friends (or make new ones) and listen to the live entertainment put on by the city. That’s it!
Free entertainment for everyone is on all day and all night
The best costumes of Carnaval
There were some pretty good ones out there, but here are some of them we really loved.
A coordinated group of flight attendants, a cross-dressing Dorothy and Star Wars characters were some of our favourites
After hours of madness, we all decided to turn in for the night and call an end to our Carnaval in Cádiz festivities. While some of us woke up a little foggy the next day, no one had any regrets and we will definitely do Carnaval again one day.
Couldn’t resist taking a photo of Jack Sparrow taking a photo of his mate
The festivities run non-stop for 10 days. We headed in for the opening weekend, but we have heard that both weekends are jam packed with costumes, music and celebrations. Chill out in the morning, do some sightseeing and soak up the atmosphere before partying the night away with live DJs and street entertainment. If you are lucky enough to have the Monday off, stay overnight on either of the Sundays for the big parade that starts around 4pm and goes on through the night.
Have you been to Carnaval? Let us know your experience in the comments section below!
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Love your post… I experienced Carnival back in 94 when I was an exchange student in Bolivia… it was a highlight of my year… looking forward to starting full time travel so I can experience it again!
Thanks Karen! Yes, Carnival (or Carnaval) is such a colourful and fun event! We definitely want to go back and experience it another year (or enjoy it in a different country!)
Funny how this used to be a catholic feast yet we celebrate it big and bold! at my town, south of Barcelona, Carnaval is total debauchery and excesses 😉
I agree! There’s not a whole lot of catholic tradition evident when we were there! (Not sure if the nuns in drag count!) 🙂
I wouldn’t be much interested in Carnaval, but that photo you published of Cadiz is absolutely beautiful!
Thank you! Cádiz is a wonderful city to visit! Carnaval is certainly not for everyone, but an interesting event to see and experience nonetheless!
What an awesome post! It looks like an amazing time was had by all. Another reason why I must get to Spain soon.
Thank you Marie! We can list PLENTY of reasons to visit Spain! 🙂
Wow it sounds like a whole lot of fun and judging by that crowd in the last photo pretty much everyone agrees.
Haha Yes everyone, young and old, enjoy Carnaval! It’s lovely to see families and kids enjoy it by day and then the party goers by night!
This looks super fun! I would definitely dress up for the occasion.
It was so much fun Erica! And dressing up is definitely part of the fun!
We have Carnival in Germany, too. But it’s always so cold 😐 I should better go to Cádiz next time, it looks definitely nicer and warmer 😀
I can imagine it would be so cold at that time of the year! We visited Berlin in April and still found it freezing! I agree that Cádiz is a good option to enjoy Carnaval with warmer weather. We were wearing short sleeved shirts during the day!
Never been to such a big carnival before, sounds excellent. Love you pictures.
Thank you! It was a lot of fun!
This year I’ve visited Spain for the first time in my life and I loved it so I hope there’re many more trips ahead of me and hopefully I’ll see some festivals as well!
We have visited Spain four times now and love it more every time we visit! I’m sure you will see festivals as the Spanish love to celebrate life and know how to party!
Wow! The carnaval in in Cadiz looks amazing! I absolutely love festivals (especially where you dress up!) wrap that in with a destination like Cadiz and I’m there! Thanks for the helpful tips too! Hopefully I’ll be able to attend one day, and I’ll be sure to follow your advice!
Thank you Heather! I hope you can get to Carnaval sometime! I also can never go past an opportunity to dress up, so Carnaval is a great excuse! 🙂
We currently live in Germany and instead of Carnaval, they have Fasching, which is always a riot to experience. I love that so many different cultures have their take on this despite where in the world they are!
So true LeAnna! Sadly, we don’t have anything this colourful or exciting in Australia (that I know of!). It’s great to experience these festivals all over the world!
Carnaval has always looked like so much fun!! I’ve never been but hopefully I’ll get my chance sometime. 😀 It looks like you had a great time! ^_^
Thanks Dawn! Yes, it was a really fun weekend. We’d go back and do it again in a heartbeat!
Carnival sounds pretty exciting–it’s crazy that it goes on for 10 days! I always love people watching, so I think I’d be pretty entertained 🙂 Love all the costumes!
We enjoy the odd bit of people watching also and during Carnaval, with all the crazy costumes and excitement, it is even more interesting! I can’t imagine living there during the 10 days! I doubt much work would get done! 🙂