Carnaval 2006
Afternoon street scene nearby the Acuario a couple hrs before the parade began.
Carnaval 2006 began on Feb. 21st and ran thru Feb 28th. I attended the opening day, childrens parade, and I also took in the last two parades on the last day ( Fat Tuesday ) The parade route is north to south on AVE. Independncia. Good places to observe the parade is about anywhere you can find to stand near the zocalo.. The parade ends at parque zamora which is about 5 more blocks south of zocalo.
Some pics of kids parade http://community.webshots.com/album/557666040keTLIJ
Feb 21 / 06: Veracruz kicked off Carnaval lastnight with a large childrens parade that took about 1 1/2 hrs or so.. I believe that every child under 10 yrs old from Veracruz and Boca del Rio must have been it and took an 1 1/2 hrs or so to pass by... Various costumes, floats.. cute little suckers!! Downtown was jambed with locals and tourist alike to watch the event.. Later the childrens king and queen selection was announced / presented to a jamb, packed zocalo... At aprox 9 in evening the burning of mal humor took place.. this yrs "winner" was "mata viejitas" (the woman that was much talked about in the news earlier this yr who is accused of killing many old people in México city) There was live music, fireworks display shot off from the rooftops of the buildings surrounding the zocalo.. and a good time was had by all!
Tuesday, Feb. 28th, 2006: It turned out to be a pleasant morning being sunny, but not too hot.. The afternoon / evening parade weather was a little cooler, but welcome relief after a long day under the sun. I would also like to mention it is worth attending both the daylight and night time parades, as they seem quite differently with all the light displays in the evening..
The first parade began at 10 AM, from the southern end of the 6 kilometer parade route, (mas o menos) in Boca del Rio and proceeded north along "Ave. Camacho", also known as "the bulivard". Lots of music, performers dancing, decorated floats and scantily dressed muchachas shaking it about.. good crowd, good time... The morning parade took about two hrs to pass where I was seated.
For some pictures click here http://good-times.webshots.com/album/557666030BuWAuw
The bars, restaurants and beaches along the bulivard did a brisk business for the rest of the afternoon, as people milled about in the party like atmospher of Carnaval.
Daytime pics around acuario y Playa Villa del Mar http://community.webshots.com/album/557666901ZLjlRe
The 5 o-clock parade began at the northern end of route and worked its way south to end in Boca del Rio. This crowd was noticeable larger and a considerably more rowdy, having worked at getting ready for the better part of the afternoon for the "last hurrah", A few perhaps drinking a little too much, but overall the crowd was in high spirits and well behaved. There was a seemingly, endless line of floats, marching / dancing groups, clowns and other participants sponsored by local and national business groups. The beer companies floats are the most elaborate with lots of very pretty and well proportioned dancers.. :) People lining the route were also in the act, jumping in here and there to dance and clown around with the official entertainers.. All and all it was a good time..
For some pictures of evening parade click on link http://travel.webshots.com/album/557666031kcUlHI
SPECIAL MENTION: I had a good laugh when I seen the Charmin float seemed to especially please both the daytime and evening crowd. It wasn’t too elaborate, but the crowd’s obvious, excitement level went up by several notches, as they scrambled to catch the rolls of free toilet paper and small boxes of tissue paper that were being tossed to the crowd as it passed by... : )
NOTE: I did see a fight break out close by, but the police jumped on it quick and the offenders were ushered off quickly to the cheers and approval of the nearby crowd.. The party doesn’t stop after th parade, large crowds of mostly younger people continue to dance / party to music being played in the street into the wee hours of the morning.. (I would suggest that being here alone, late at night, is perhaps not the safest of places to be) I would also suggest to travelers who are visiting for this event, to watch the parade within easy walking distance of your hotel as it can be next to impossible to catch a bus, or taxi to get back to your accommodations....
