An Olympic Finish to the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Carnival

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 5 March 2025. The 2025 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Carnaval reaches its final crescendo this week. Its latest iteration, dedicated to the Olympic Games, is entering the final phase of the schedule, marked by the election of its Drag Queen, street celebrations, and extensive timetable of concerts, culminating with the Burial of the Sardine. There is something for everyone at this stage of the carnival: families and adult audiences have plenty of opportunities for dressing up in costumes and living the essence of a festival that garners international tourist interest.

The schedule’s final push kicks off on 7 March at 9 pm with the long-awaited Drag Queen Gala, in which 15 candidates will compete for the sceptre with the biggest international appeal in the island capital’s carnival. Parque Santa Catalina’s Olympic stage is host to the event that will be viewed around the world and is always attended by a capacity crowd.

One of the four remaining Carnival Nights of the festivity takes place that same evening. Stages are set for musical performances in Plaza de Manuel Becerra—where Guaynaa will be playing—and in Plaza de la Luz, near the La Isleta neighbourhood, and Eduardo Benot Street, near the Port Market.

The festivity continues on Saturday 8 March, even when the sun is as its highest, with a massive Daytime Carnival in Plaza de Canarias, near Santa Catalina Park (from 12 pm onward), and during the Carnival Night scheduled to follow it (until 5 in the morning). Taking to the stage earlier in the evening are Nía (at 6:30 pm) and Olga Tañón (at 8:30 pm), before concerts after dark from a lineup that includes Juacko, Ray Castellano, and Abián Reyes, from midnight onwards.

Sunday 9 March is reserved for a bustling Family Carnival in Santa Catalina and Plaza de Canarias, from 11 am, rounding off with Wilfrido Vargas at 8 pm. The fantastic Carnival Choreography Festival is one of the morning’s highlights, in which numerous children’s dance and costume groups will take part, always drawing a capacity crowd to the park. It’s well worth a look. Plenty of music, costumes, and an audience of all ages are just the combination for an intense Carnival day out in the city.

Even with all this, there are still some incredible shows booked for Santa Catalina’s grand stage. The biggest, Cross-Dresser Night, scheduled for Wednesday 12 March at 8 pm, is a tribute to the artists who made cross-dressing a hallmark of Carnivals past. They are the true predecessors of what would later give way to the Drag Queens of the 21st century festivity, who will be the leading attractions of this Carnival.

And there is still a buzzing weekend in the Santa Catalina and La Isleta neighbourhoods yet to come. On Friday 14 March, the Daytime Carnival and Carnival Night are back, with a succession of concerts for various tastes, in different locations from 4 pm to 5 am. In between them, at 8:30 pm, Maluma will take the stage at Santa Catalina Park.

This is a grand prelude to 15 March, when the Grand Parade is scheduled to take place, setting off in La Isleta (Manuel Becerra) at 4 pm and ending at Mayor de Triana Street, just outside the historic centre of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

This is one of the major events in the city’s Carnival, with numerous floats (129 this year) among a packed audience, in procession and escorted by the groups and winners of galas and contests. The crowd will parade alongside them on foot through the centre of the Gran Canaria’s capital.

The following Carnival Night begins with more concerts from 10 pm through to 5 in the morning. Tito ‘El Bambino’ is scheduled to perform at 1 pm, headlining another evening of musical variety for the huge audience in attendance.

And lastly, the Olympic Games Carnival marks the grand finale on Sunday 16 March. To kick off, we have the ‘Widows Race’. Setting out from Santa Catalina at 1 pm, they return to the same park after making their way around the 3.5-km circuit in the surrounding area. This is a special, non-competitive event, in which everyone over ten years of age is invited to take part, in costume, of course, in keeping with the tone of the festivity.

Next, Plaza de Canarias will hold one last Daytime Carnival, until at 7:30 pm when the Burial of the Sardine begins. This parade runs from Santa Catalina to Las Canteras Beach, where they burn the fish, thereby bidding the Carnival farewell until the following year. Widows, mourners, and a cohort of enthusiastic public always accompanies the Sardine, thereby completing the programme as we now look toward the festivities in 2026.