Santa Catalina Park is hosting the main events on a programme that reserves different areas for festival nights and concerts

As has been the norm in the modern history of the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Carnival, the Olympic Games Carnival is taking over Santa Catalina Park for the main events on the programme: galas and contests that capture the audience’s attention and are broadcast on television and the Internet at a national and international level.

Santa Catalina is the setting for the Murgas and Comparsas competitions, the Dogs’ Carnival, the Costume Contest, the Body Painting Contest and the Carnival Queen, Drag Queen, Grande Dame and Children’s Throne Galas.

But that is not all there is to the 2025 Carnival, by any means. The festival takes over the Park’s surroundings, in several locations that extend to the populous district of La Isleta, the cradle of the modern Carnival in the city.

For example, El Refugio Park, adjoining Santa Catalina, hosts the now traditional funfair, which attracts large crowds every year. In addition, Plaza de Canarias, also nearby, between the cruise ship dock and the heart of Santa Catalina, is reserved for the big popular celebrations in the sunshine, aimed more at a family audience. It is the site chosen for the Daytime Carnival.

At the far end of the La Isleta district, other Carnival venues are installed. The stage in Plaza de Manuel Becerra, by the main road traffic entrance to the Port of Las Palmas, is for events associated with a younger audience, with DJ sessions and reggaeton and trap-related artists.

And Plaza de la Luz, next to the historic church of the same name, is the setting for band concerts and performances of Latin music.

Finally, the Mercado del Puerto area, from Calle Agustín Millares to Calle Eduardo Benot, is filled with chiringuitos (street refreshment stalls) and the popular chiringays (gay-friendly chiringuitos) : an arrangement that completes the profile of the spaces for celebrating Carnival in the street.

There are seven nights of festivities: 28 February and 1, 3, 7, 8, 14 and 15 March. The timetable varies from night to night, but normally the music continues until 4 am on Saturdays and 5 am on Sundays.

The family, daytime and friends festivities are normally held from 12 noon to 10 pm.