The festivities begin on the 12th February in Ibiza town with the “mariol.los”, a street parade centred around the art of disguise. The aim is to make yourself as unrecognisable as possible and many people take this to the extreme.
The key date is Sunday 15th February with the Rua de Carnival though. A lavish procession through the main streets of the town, it features a competition for the best parade across the float, adult group, school group, residents’ association, adult costume and children’s costume categories.
Those categories highlight how the carnival is designed to be accessible to everybody, featuring children in equal standing with adults. Two local dance schools will perform acts with stars aged from 3-18 years.
Stock photo of the Ibiza Carnival
Ibiza Spotlight
The event often sees a rise in the number of summer villa hires. Popular with families and groups of friends, renting a villa makes it easy to experience the best of the attractions whilst having a relaxing private retreat to return to.
The main festival will end in Ibiza Town with the traditional ending to a Spanish carnival, the burying of the sardine where a giant papier mache fish is mourned by the paraders. After this, everybody feasts on sardines and wine in the colourful event’s conclusion.
The exact programme is kept tightly secret right up to the beginning of the festival and is still being finalised now. It is sure to feature colour, ornate costumes and impressive dance performances though. Recent parade themes have included Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs, The Lion King and Cuban Latin dancers.
