That’s the last float, right?

Carnival: the root of our Mardi Gras. This is the celebration of the winter season and Sitges, a quaint fishing village 30 minutes outside of Barcelona by train, is purportedly The Host for Carnival. While Halloween is not much of a to-do in Europe, Carnival is the festival to don a costume (the more ridiculous the better, apparently) and enjoy yourself. So naturally my friends and I had to partake in the madness.

We arrived in Sitges in the early afternoon just in time to catch the children’s parade. This “tame” parade featured music at club-level decibels, elaborate costumes, themed floats, and puts any hometown Memorial Day parade to shame. Since there seems to be a dearth of rules for Carnival, my friends and I backed up against a building along with the rest of the crowd and let the floats pass a meter away from us, cheering, dancing kids and all. After the spectacle ended we made our way to the beach and walked along the seaside to enjoy the fresh air and the local scenery. Following a brief dinner we made our way to the park along the beachfront to watch the famous Carnival parade. The parade lasted over three hours in total and featured anything you could imagine: pirates, Romans, turtles, dancers, and who-knows=what. The atmosphere was charged with an intoxicating energy and you quickly succumbed to participate in the revelry. Each float had a sound system clubs would be envious of and the music from each float melted into one pounding rhythm that ensconced the whole town.

Following the last float, the attendees did not disperse to their homes, rather packed the pars, restaurants, parks, and clubs to hold on to the ephemeral happiness of Carnival as long as possible. On Fat Tuesday, Sitges evidently turns the level up one last time before the Lenten season begins. I’m unsure this is possible, however, I just may take the time to investigate further.