The Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is one of the most famous
carnival
Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras.
Carnival typi ...
s of
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. The event is celebrated every year in the month of February in
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean.
It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...
.
In 2023 it was declared a
Fiesta of International Tourist Interest, being the sixth carnival in Spain to achieve it after those of
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz de Tenerife (; locally ), commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and one of the capitals of the Canary Islands, along with Las Palmas. Santa Cruz has a ...
,
Cádiz
Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...
(1980),
Águilas
Águilas () is a municipality and seaport of southeastern Spain, in the province of Murcia. It is situated at the southern end of Murcia's Mediterranean coastline, otherwise known as the Costa Cálida, near the border with the Province of Almer ...
(2015),
Xinzo de Limia
Xinzo de Limia () is a town and municipality in the province of Ourense, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the comarca of A Limia. It lies on the important Autovia das Rias Baixas in the fertile valley of Antela, a ...
(2019) and
Badajoz
Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...
(2022).
Events
The events include the Gala of the
Queen
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Q ...
and the Gala of the
Drag Queen
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...
. The main
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...
or
Cavalcade
A cavalcade is a procession or parade on horseback, or a mass distance ride by a company of riders.
Sometimes the focus of a cavalcade is participation rather than display and the participants do not wear costumes or ride in formation. ...
is viewed by 200,000 people every year along a six kilometer route that runs through the city.
Controversy
The Carnival of Las Palmas has been involved in polemic several times. In the past there was certain controversy because a band named ''Los Indianos'' coming from the town of
Santa Cruz de La Palma wanted to join the Carnival of Las Palmas, or joining the Carnival of Las Palmas of so-called "''Carnaval de Día''" which belongs to
Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife
The Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife () is held each February–March –depending on the year– in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital of the largest island of the Canary Islands, Spain and attracts people from all over the world.
It is con ...
and to use the same model of retransmission of
Tenerife
Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...
.
Gala of the Drag Queen
The Gala of the Drag Queen is an event of the Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It consists of a
concert
A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...
and a
television show
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...
in which the main event is a
pageant
Pageant(s) or The Pageant(s) may refer to:
Events
* Procession or ceremony in elaborate costume
* Beauty pageant, or beauty contest
* List of pageants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
* Medieval pageant, a narrative medieval pro ...
of drag queens, enlivened with other performances of
singers
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...
and
dance
Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
numbers. The carnivals of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria included this show for the first time in 1998, and with the passage of time, it has become one of the most popular events of the festivities. In the drag queens contest, the artistic talent, the dance, and the interpretation of a musical number are valued. The contest participants act three minutes over the stage of the Santa Catalina Park. Days before the Gala a pre-selection is held in which the best candidates are chosen to perform at the Gala. In the contest rules there is no
gender
Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...
limitation or
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...
, although the participants are mostly
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
men
A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy.
Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...
. The pageant is broadcast by the Spanish national
public channel RTVE
The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española (''Spanish Radio and Television'', RTVE), is the Spanish national public Broadcasting, television and radio broadcaster. It is a state-owned enterprise f ...
.
References
External links
Official Web of the Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria* http://www.grancanaria.com/patronato_turismo/Carnaval-de-Las-Palmas-de-Gran-Canaria-Tickets.52333.0.html
Tourist attractions in Las Palmas
Carnivals in Spain
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