Carnaval de Villarrobledo
Carnaval de Villarrobledo turns the streets and squares of this Albacete town into a stage for costumes, brass bands, parades and collective comedy for several days. Its programme combines large comparsas with events born from local participation and keeps the celebration going by day and by night.
Celebration date
The date is variable, in February or March, before Lent. The local cycle begins on Jueves Lardero and continues beyond Ash Wednesday until Domingo de Gachas. Its duration and exact dates must be checked in each edition's programme.
Venues and atmosphere
Plaza Vieja and the Carpa del Carnaval host many activities, whilst parades move through the town centre from gathering points such as Plaza Ramón y Cajal. Some national events start from larger sites chosen by the organisers each year.
See also the festivals of Villarrobledo.
Documented history
The municipal Carnival website places the first explicit written references to the local festival in the nineteenth century. By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, crowded streets and numerous masked balls were already established. During periods of prohibition, the celebration survived indoors; from the late 1970s and especially the 1980s, it returned to the streets and broadened participation by schools, families and comparsas.
Events and traditions
- The arrival of Los Juanes on Jueves Lardero announces the opening.
- Opening gala, proclamation and awards for carnival personalities and groups.
- Large adult and children's parades, with local and national participants.
- Carnaval Infantil, night-time contests and activities in the Carpa.
- Entierro de la Sardina, with a procession, prizes and symbolic burning.
- Concurso de Bodas, a collective parody with its own parade.
- Domingo de Gachas, with a contest, awards and public tasting.
The carnival Bodas
The so-called Bodas are one of Villarrobledo's distinctive features. They began spontaneously and became a contest and parade in which groups, couples and comparsas parody a wedding through deliberately absurd costumes, characters and situations.
Participation and recognition
Peñas, comparsas, schools, associations, families, musicians, hospitality businesses and the Town Council sustain a strongly participatory festival. Carnaval de Villarrobledo is designated a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional, a Spanish Festival of National Tourist Interest.