CARNAVAL DE TENERIFE
Once the Christmas holidays are over, and with the new year still awakening, Tenerife begins to prepare for what for us is, without a doubt, one of the most eagerly awaited events of the year: streets flooded with colour, costumes and joy, batucadas, musical performances and competitions, parades… We talk, of course, about our unmistakable Carnival in Tenerife 2020, an event that we recently recommended to you in our list of 8 charming festivities in Tenerife.
Are you thinking of escaping to the Tenerife Carnival this year? In this post we give you the best tips to enjoy our carnival as if you were a typical “chicharrero”. Carnaval 2020.
History of Carnival
Declared a Festival of International Tourist Interest in 1980, the Carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife is considered the second most popular and well-known carnival in the world, only surpassed by that of Rio de Janeiro (in fact, both cities are twinned). Tenerife Carnival also has the honor of being included in the Guinness Book of Records since 1987. That year, a street performance by the famous Cuban singer Celia Cruz welcomed some 250 000 people, making it the largest gathering of people in an open-air square to attend a concert (and a record that still stands today).
But when did it start? The first references can be found in the 16th century. Only two centuries later, in the 18th century, Carnival was already so popular that it was celebrated by both the wealthy classes and the people (though each in their own way).
It was not until the 19th century that carnival began to evolve into what we know today: exhibitions, contests and, moreover, this is when the ue of masks, used by upper-class women to blend in with “the people” without being recognized, began to spread.
When is Carnival in Tenerife?
Tenerife Carnival 2020 will be held from February 19th to March 1st. However, the prelude will take place much earlier: on January 24th, when the presentation of candidates will take place. From that day until the end of the party and the pyrotechnic exhibition on March 1st, different activities will take place in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The theme that will preside over this edition will be “Los Coquetos Años 50”, a theme that each year is chosen by vote.
Tenerife Carnival 2020. Activities
The Carnival oinTenerife has many activities, which we can see in this official calendar. Some of the most important are:
- “Groupings”
Every year, groups of murgas, comparsas and rondallas create their costumes, dances and performances according to the theme of the Carnival, creating passionate “discussions” to decide who has the most acidic and critical lyrics, the most striking choreography or the best musical arrangement. Competition aside, they all take to the streets with one goal: to flood the city with the best rhythms and dances.
The colour of the comparsas, the satire of the murgas (with their cane and cardboard instruments) and the tradition of the rondallas (the oldest and most traditional of the festival), will make you live this Carnival to the full.
Contest
But as we said, these different groups present themselves every year to different competitions, divided into several phases that are lived with real passion and that are followed by the population with great enthusiasm (the Murgas Competition, whose Final will take place on the 7th, is one of the star events of the Carnival “chicharrero”).
- Election of the Carnival Queen
The Carnival of “Los coquetos años 50” will have 37 candidates for queen in its three modalities (Adult, Major and Children). According to the Autonomous Organization of Festivals and Recreational Activities, the drawing of the order of parade of the candidates will take place on January 24 at 21:30 (presentation of the Tenerife Carnival 2020).
- Announcing Parade
The costumes of the queen, her bridesmaids and the Carnival groups are even more impressive if we see them up close and marching live through the streets of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Carnival Parade Announcer: a real parade of colour and joy where, in addition, murgas, comparsas, rondallas, musical groups and individual and collective costume winners also take part. All this, with the streets of the city crowded with people.
- Carnival by Day
And after a night of dancing, partying and fun you still have some strength left, we encourage you not to miss the other side of Carnival: the Carnival by Day, where families and friends mingle in the streets (dressed in their best costumes) with the sole intention of having a good time and taking advantage of every moment of fun.
- “Burial of the Sardine”
The Burial of the Sardine is a show that announces the end of the party. A funny and irreverent show with which the carnival people say goodbye to Don Carnal. The burial of the sardine -or of the cicada, an emblematic fish for the people of Tenerife- consists of a parade in which thousands of “widows”, accompanied by members of the church, ghosts and different apparitions, say their last goodbye to the body of the festival.
Where to stay in Tenerife Carnival 2020
If after this we have convinced you to visit Tenerife during our Carnival, in Adrian Hoteles we propose you the best option of hotels in Santa Cruz de Tenerife to see the Carnival 2020.
Categories: Uncategorized
