February is carnival month in the Costa del Sol. Although in most places that celebrate the coming of Lent, it’s just a few days, in Andalusia, there’s far too much to fit into one weekend.
In Marbella, it’s lasting 3 weeks with a tonne of different dressing-up events. Taking place from Saturday, February 15 to Saturday, March 8 with a full programme of events.
As the main novelty this year, the opening day, February 15, has been moved to the Adolfo Suárez Congress Centre. Until now it had always been held in the municipal theatre.
Starting at 9pm, all proceeds will go to the charity, the Debra Piel de Mariposa association. There will be numerous spectacular ceremonies, including the introduction of Venus, the Nymphs and the God Momo, and a night of Chirigotas, calypso groups performing hilarious songs mocking politicians, and the famous and recent events.
And then there will be the Marbella carnival troops displaying their brightly coloured costumes, floats, and carefully rehearsed parades.
Carnival ‘peñas’ (clubs) have been preparing for the last 51 weeks of the year for this moment, and this year looks like it will be bigger than ever and well worth joining in the party. For each day, there will be disruption to traffic and overcrowded buses as the whole city descends on the centre for one of the biggest street celebrations of the year.
At the Palacio de Congresos, they will also host the children’s Chirigotas contest from February 19 to 21. On February 23 at 12pm there’s a children’s competition with Venus, Nymph, and the God Momo as judges at Dam Park with bouncy castles, trampolines, entertainment, and other surprises for the kids.
And it doesn’t stop there. The programming resumes on Friday 28, at 1pm, with the traditional Chorizada, an event where the kids have fun on a series of bouncy castles and rides, while the grown-ups can enjoy some free grilled chorizo in the Plaza El Triana.
From Monday, March 3 to Thursday, March 6, the Marbella Theatre will be the scene, from 9pm, of the Carnival Groups Competition, and on March 7, there will be the grand final again with all proceeds going to the Debra charity. And then on March 8, the ‘Humour Parade’ which leaves at 5pm from Avenida Ricardo Soriano and ends on Avenida Nabeul.
