Carnaval

Carnaval is one of the most exciting times of the year on Gran Canaria - a party that starts in February, and which goes on for around six weeks across the island.

The Las Palmas Carnaval is one of the world's biggest, rivalling Rio in its scale and colour.

Each year a huge outdoor stage - with seating for several thousand spectators - is built in the Parque Santa Catalina, and this is the setting for a series of contests to choose the Carnaval Queens and the best dance troupes for the cabalgatas or processions.

It's a time when the whole community gets out on the streets to party, and if you are in Playa del Ingles during carnaval, at night you'll find you are often surrounded by hundreds of people wearing fancy dress.

And Carnaval wouldn't be Carnaval without drag queens....drag is an integral part of the whole event, with an appeal that is much broader than just the gay community; in fact, tickets for the Las Palmas Drag Queen Gala reportedly sell faster than for any other carnaval event.

In Las Palmas and Maspalomas, these are huge events, frequently televised live, with international stars taking part in the galas (Bonnie Tyler, Baccara and Village People are some recent performers, as well as Spanish and Latino stars). And the fancy-dress street parties which follow are legendary.

The Centro Comercial Yumbo is the location for the big carnaval galas in Maspalomas. There's usually a major Hollywood star among the judges - Bo Derek and Ursula Andress have both been guests in recent years.

The costumes for the carnaval queens are huge, and take months to make. They frequently cost in excess of 25,000€ and contestants are reliant on sponsorship.

Costumes for the drag queen gala are equally spectacular, but always make a feature of giant platform shoes. Contestants have to prove that they can dance in them!

And it's not just in Las Palmas and Maspalomas that carnaval is celebrated; all the big towns across Gran Canaria stage their own events.

Carnaval ends with a procession to burn and bury a large papier mache sardine. It's accompanied by "widows" in black drag....

If you've never been to Gran Canaria for Carnaval, we guarantee you'll be amazed by the scale of the events and sheer exuberance of it all!

The theme for Las Palmas Carnaval 2008 is "Olympus" - so there are plenty of opportunities to dress up as gods and goddesses, or anything else related to Ancient Greece.

Carnaval starts early in Las Palmas in the coming year, on the 18th of January. The Gala for the Reina del Carnaval will be on Friday 25th January, and the Drag Queen Gala will be on the 1st of February.

With a budget of just over €1.8 million, there's every reason to expect Carnaval to be as grand as it was in 2007. The city council also wants to see more events across the city at district level.

As Carnaval ends in Las Palmas, the focus moves to Maspalomas, which usually has a related theme.