Carnaval Mazatlan

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Whew! It was a blast!

Last night Paul and I headed out for our last Carnaval event, the final Mazatlan Carnaval 2009 parade. The parade got going quite a ways North of Centro at about 4:30, and it finally hit Centro around 7 pm. This is the final blow-out for everyone and there was enthusiasm to burn! The crowd kept building and building, along with the expectation and excitement. I don’t just have to tell you, I can show you what an awesome parade it...

the first carnaval parade was most excellent!

We went to the first Carnaval parade yesterday afternoon.  We didn’t go to this one last year, as there’s another parade that passes right through Olas Altas that seemed more like “our” parade.  I am really glad we went, though.  Afterwards we walked into the Carnaval area, paid our 20 pesos, and watched them setting up for the evening.  We sat over a couple of beverages, and somehow got sidetracked by the main stage band and ended up dancing our...

Naval Battle re-enactment

Last night was both the Burning of Bad Humor and the re-enactment of the 1864 Naval Battle where Mazatlan repelled the French.  It was quite a night! We were heading to Cerro de la Vigia during the Burning of Bad Humor, but we read in the paper this morning that they burned Héctor Carrillo, a judge in the election of the Carnaval Queen.  When the vote came out as a tie, he hastily said that he made a mistake, and...

Countdown to Carnaval!

x This is our second Carnaval here in Mazatlán, and already it feels different than last year.  Last year’s celebration was the first for the new city administration, and the previous administration had left no money in the coffers to roll over for Carnaval.  So if you were here last year things felt a little thrown-together, because they were. I’ll have a full series of photos of the changes here in Mazatlán in a couple of days, but I thought...

Carnaval is over…

  Carnaval was loud, crazy, full of beer, hot dogs, kids with neon light sabers and confetti. And it was fun.   We’d heard lots of stories about how wild and noisy it was – and it’s true that the later you are out the louder and younger the crowd gets. But we learned that we can choose what we want to do and stay home when we don’t feel like it.   The dogs survived, too – although neither...

I need a nap

Carnaval festivities continue to dominate Mazatlan. The hotels are at capacity, with most tourists being Mexican nationals. I think most of them arrived yesterday and everyone was ready for a party last night. At eight there was the ceremonial Burning of Bad Humor. The effigy burned was one of the ruffians from Culiacan who lassoed the Venado monument at Olas Altas last year, pulling it off its pedestal and destroying it. The Venado (deer) is the symbol of Mazatlan and...

Mazatlan knows how to party!

So far Carnaval is wonderful. The first night, Thursday, was cold and windy. I know – all of you reading this from the frozen North – it wasn’t cold by your standards but it was cold for here. I think that really put a crimp on the celebration. We were out in the early evening because the King of Joy was going to be crowned at 7:00 al punto which means on the dot. People were milling about but it...

We’re bracing ourselves for…Carnaval!

We’ve heard stories about what a big event Carnaval is ever since we first visited here. Some people choose to leave town for the week and others get into the spirit in a big way. This being our first year we have asked a lot of advice but in general are taking a relaxed perspective on the celebration. If we feel like it, we’ll do it – otherwise our fridge is full and we can crank up the tunes at...