Sunday Times E-Paper

CARNAVAL DE MAZATLÁN

A FESTIVAL OF JOY AND COLOR BY THE SEA

„Daneelo Nugara

The coastal resort city of Mazatlán in Mexico lures visitors with an excellent year-round warm climate, a mesmerizing coastline of enticing sandy beaches, a buzzy seaside promenade full of street performers, colonial architecture coated in vibrant colours, cobblestone plazas with cafe tables lining the street, neighbourhood hole-in-the-wall restaurants that fresh ceviche and top-quality seafood and rich history and heritage of its own – just about everything one would want for a seaside vacation getaway; yet Mazatlán’s biggest lure is the Mazatlán Carnival, a pre-Lent festival that attracts over half a million people every year.

The spectacular Carnaval de Mazatlán celebration, like in many Catholic countries, is held in the run-up to Lent on the 7 miles of beachfront Malecon that can accommodate countless celebrants, together with bands to entertain, food sellers to sustain and bars to lubricate from Thursday night to the Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday – for many, it’s a time to let loose and indulge one last time before the start of Lent; for others, it's a way to reflect and celebrate the joy of life.

THE HISTORY OF MAZATLÁN CARNIVAL

But behind the extravagance of the elaborate overthe-top costumes, shimmering feathery headpieces,

to native traditions; the first documentation of the carnival was made by Captain Juan Antonio Muñoz in 1827 in which he chronicles that on Shrove Tuesday masked revellers would parade through Mazatlán hurling insults and throwing flour, eggshells, ashes, dyes and even rocks at each other.

However, in 1898 Mazatlán Carnival became a more official week-long celebratory event that saw its first street procession featuring chariots and bicycles - flour throwing replaced with confetti as well as the first official crowning of a king and queen and numerous social events and balls.

MAZATLÁN CARNIVAL TODAY

Kicking things off things is the Bad Mood Riddance event also known as Quema del Mal Humor where a dummy of an unpopular famous person is loaded with fireworks and set alight in a bid to get rid of any bad feelings. From then on it's flat-out nothing but joyous festivities, starting with the crowning of a Reina de Carnaval, Queen of Carnival, at the baseball stadium on Friday evening at the juegos florales, floral games, to lead the event and the crowning of Rey de la Alegría, King of Joy in the Teodoro Mariscal Stadium followed by the costume parade, featuring floats, bands and the newly crowned carnival 'royals' who are pelted with confetti and streamers by spectators while offshore the Mexican victory over the French fleet in a sea battle that took place off the coast of Mazatlán in 1864 is celebrated with a huge fireworks display along the Olas Altas beachfront in the old town.

The partying continues into the early hours with everyone out again the big parade that passes along the malecón, the long seafront promenade, and dozens of floats with dancers encouraging an already-lively crowd to get into the carnival atmosphere.

Monday is for the married men, El Dia d I Marido Oprimido, Day of the Hen-pecked Husband, who are allowed a brief spell of unsupervised freedom from their wives. There's another big parade on Tuesday afternoon, after which the streets come alive with music and excited revellers – a thundering ending to a very special event.

FESTIVALS

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2023-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

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