The fancy-dress fiesta
For visitors, the adults' fancy-dress fiesta in Santa Catalina is a must, to soak up the real essence of Carnival.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 11 February, 2020. The Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Carnival conceals a profound history full of meaning if we link these celebrations with fancy dress, which is what it is always associated with. During the years of Franco’s dictatorship, Carnival was not officially permitted: people celebrated these festivities under the euphemism of “Winter Fiestas”, and all manner of things were an excuse to change identity in the celebrations. From one’s parents’s old clothes to basic fancy dress put together from sheets or old rags.

That spirit has lasted over time, when it comes to identifying Carnival as an occasion where irony, humour and fiction give meaning to the celebrations. This is something which has been held onto in the celebrations out in the street, and which is also reflected in the adults’ fancy-dress competition, which fills Santa Catalina Park every year for one of the most unalloyed moments on the fiestas’ calendar.

In this competition, which you can take part in as an individual or in groups, the contenders for the prizes show their ingenuity in coordinating their costume with the topic chosen each year to give the fiestas a common theme: in 2020, Once upon a time at Carnival. What’s more, the groups demonstrate a surprising capacity to coordinate their outfits with their staging, in a purely amateur activity. For visitors, the fancy-dress fiesta, always open to all, is a must, to soak up the real essence of Carnival.

Adults’ fancy-dress festival
Thursday, 13 February 2020
9 pm Santa Catalina Park
Free entry for all until capacity is reached