Barcelona Carnival 2024 - Carnestoltes

Carnaval de Barcelona 2024

Carnival dates: 
8th to 14th February 2024

Carnival location: 
Various venues Map carnaval parades Barcelona 2024

Hashtags: 
#carnavalbcn #carnestoltes

Program
Download PDF program

Information:
2024 Barcelona Carnival. 'A Carnestoltes, bones voltes' - 'In Carnival, good times!'  The Barcelona Carnival is a week long programme of events and processions in all neighbourhoods of Barcelona in February.  It starts with the arrival of the King Carnival - Rei Carnestoltes - and ends on Ash Wednesday, when the famous carnival sardine is buried. The first documented history of Barcelona's carnival dates back to 1333 when a regulation from the Barcelona government prohibited the throwing of oranges and regulated the use of masks!

Pictures Barcelona Carnival

What is carnival about?

The general idea of a carnival is that it is time to eat, drink, dance and generally have a huge party during carnaval week in preparation for the fasting period of Lent, which begins after the carneval ends. Carnaval is a festival which allows you to hide behind your mask and become someone else for a while, which means you can break the rules a ilttle and let yourself go. In Barcelona the public carnival activities are mostly for families and children, although that said, there are many parties at nightclubs for adults and many costume balls. Carnival is called 'carnestoltes' in the Catalan language and 'carnaval' in Spanish. The carnaval parades are mostly on Friday 9th or Saturday 10th February 2024. 

In Spain it all starts on 'Fat Thursday', because this is the day when you start to stuff yourself during carnaval week. The Barcelona food markets celebrate Fat Thursday with many food events and competitions all over Barcelona. The main character of the Spanish carnevals is King Carnival - called 'Rei Carnestoltes' in Catalan language and 'Rey Carnaval' in Spanish language.

The symbolic role of the Carnival King is to carry all the sins of power, and take responsibility for all the bad things that occurred throughout the year. On the last day of Carnival, the carnival king’s last will and testament is read in public. Then the king is condemned and burnt, which is the signal to start the feast. A week later the sad death of the King Carnival marks the end of the carnival with funeral corteges complete with grieving widows in black and other events in his honour all over the city.

Barcelona's main carnaval events in the city center take inspiration from the ancient carnavals from previous centuries dating back to the 14th century. Barcelona has around 100 local events and over 30 local carnaval parades in all districts of Barcelona including the neighbourhoods of the old city Ciutat Vella.

See major events on the Barcelona Carnival website or search on X for Barcelona carnival information using the hashtags: #carnavalbcn #carnestoltes


For adult street party carnival events then we can also recommend the parade nights at Sitges, which is just south of Barcelona. The Sitges carnaval usually takes place around the same time and has more of a street party theme for adults. Sitges, which is a popular seaside resort town just south of Barcelona, where the Sitges Carnival is celebrated on the same days as Barcelona. The Sitges carnaval is famous for its flamboyant parades, both thanks to a fantastic annual effort by Sitges residents and by the vibrant and enthusiatic gay community of Sitges.


Related pages:
Pictures Barcelona Carnival
Barcelona costume shops
Web food markets 
Civic centers Barcelona
Sitges carnaval website
Barcelona Events 

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