Santa Cruz de La Palma is starting carnival properly on Friday evening. There’s a “Wig Fiesta” from 5-10 pm, and the kids’ parade at 6 pm, from the Alameda to the carnival stage. (Any time you don’t know where to find a carnival event, just go to town and walk around until you hear the music.) Most of the surrounding schools will have a group of kids dressed alike, so you get, say, 30 Harry Potters and Hermione Grangers followed by 25 dragons, followed by belly dancers and Aladins. Quite often, the mothers spend ages sewing the costumes, or pay a professional seamstress to do it. There are also bands playing at both the carnival stage and the Alameda later on.
Los Llanos will be picking their carnival queen on Friday night at 9pm (5€ to get in). It’s not just a beauty contest – the girls wear the most incredible, impractical costumes.
One of my favourite things about carnival is the small kids in costume, so I plan to be in Santa Cruz for the parade.
