Carnival has been celebrated all its life because it has always been forbidden.
We are big fans of this sentence by Fanny Tur, the director of the Arxiu and Municipal Library of Ibiza. Carnival has been celebrated all its life in Ibiza because there have always been many sides prohibiting it, and this has the opposite effect” – and we agree that Carnival invites us to come out of the wardrobe”.
Carnival in Ibiza is one of the most eagerly awaited celebrations of the year and takes place in February for 5 days. It has its origins in the Roman Saturnalia and precedes the time of Lent, established by Pope Gregory the Great. For forty days, prayer, penance and abstinence from meat were practised. From the latin derives carnes-tollere – forbidden meat – that is, carnival in Spanish and carnestoltes in Catalan. Carnival in Ibiza generally takes place from Maundy Thursday to Ash Wednesday.
As a reaction to the time of penitence and abstinence, festivities were held in which people took revenge for the deprivations of Lent. Dancing, costumes, satire, licentious and anti-power attitudes were the characteristics of the festivities. During the fascist period, the public celebration of the carnival was forbidden, but the tradition was revived at the end of the 1970s at the initiative of the neighbourhood and citizens’ movement.
“Disguising oneself, masking oneself is one of the oldest ways that human beings have had since ancient times to escape from themselves, to say what we dare not to say or to feel like someone else; to act like someone else, at least for a few hours. And the fact is that stop being oneself, even if it is only for a few hours, feels very good.
The carnival party has three essential characteristics. The costume, the dance and the Rua, i.e. the parade, are the main events. The most common costume was to wrap oneself in a sheet or a blanket, with the face covered by a mask. With these costumes, gender inversion was practised in the old days, i.e. the man dressed as a woman and the woman as a man. Another inversion was the adult dressed as a child and the child as an adult. These characters are those of carnival at the beginning of the 20th century. It was not so different from today’s carnival!
The big carnival parade of San Antonio 2023 takes place on 21 February. Participants will gather at 4:30 p.m. on Avinguda Doctor Fleming, from where they will leave at 5:30 p.m. for Passeig de ses Fonts.
Put on your best costume and join the parade of floats, music and fancy dress. The island’s districts are holding their own activities, taking place in places like San Juan, San Antonio, Santa Eulalia, San José and Ibiza town centre. In addition, the city offers different places to eat traditional Ibizan food, as well as different gastronomic events. The Burial of the Sardine in Parque de la Paz brings the carnival celebrations to an end.
If you decide to spend your carnival in Ibiza, it is important to plan your trip in advance. It would also be a good idea to make an itinerary of activities you want to do while you are on the island and book your accommodation in advance.
We wish you the Best Carnival!
