Carnival is coming!

From this weekend until next week Spain and many Spanish speaking countries across Latin America will be celebrating the Carnival, an annual event that takes place just before the start of Lent where people dress up, party and generally let their hair down!

Carnival has Pagan origins but has been adapted by other religions such as those of the Romans and Greeks, and is now celebrated by Christians as an opportunity to celebrate and enjoy what will traditionally be prohibited during the period of Lent. Carnival typically includes fancy dress costumes, parades, dancing, singing, food and drink, but each Carnival has its own character.

In the capital, Madrid, all of the above will be taking place, as well as the special ‘Fiesta de los Locos Medievales', where people go into the streets in medieval fancy dress costumes. Another of the highlights will be the "Burial of the Sardine", which takes place in many Carnivals to end the festivities. For this event, people dressed in black cloaks and hats proceed through the streets with a model of a dead sardine in a coffin. This might sound very odd but Carnival is all about being a little bit crazy!

One of the wackiest and wittiest Carnivals is the Carnival of Cadiz, in the South of Spain. This frenzy of fancy dress, music and dancing is one of the biggest in Spain and has some of its own specialities, including the "chirigotas", groups who dress up and sing funny songs to their audiences. There is a competition for these groups, as well as other more serious musicians, in the Teatro Falla as part of the Carnival.

The Carnival of Tenerife, which takes place in its capital Santa Cruz, is also world famous. Every year it sees thousands of people dressed up in the streets, ready to party, as well as many official events and parades. One of the key parts of the Tenerife Carnival is the election of the Carnival Queen, which takes place on the Wednesday before it starts. The elected Queen is given a stunningly extravagant (and very heavy!) dress made from feathers, plastic, metal and more, and must then represent the Canary Islands and their Carnival at different international events.

The event is also popular throughout Latin America. The port town of Veracruz hosts one of Mexico's biggest Carnivals and there are impressive celebrations to be seen in Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela and other countries too.

So get your fancy dress costumes ready, this weekend is going to be one big fiesta!