Carnaval 2020
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Barcelona City Centre 08001 Barcelona
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El Rei Carnestoltes i els Set Ambaixadors. Photo by Pere Virgili.
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Arribo del Rei Carnestoltes. Photo by Pere Virgili.
Catalans have a saying about Carnaval: "If Carnaval was 15 times a year and Christmas came every month, if every day was Easter and Lent never came." This popular saying makes it quite clear that Carnaval is one of the most popular festivals of the year. In Barcelona, it's the festival that gets the most people involved, so for one week every year, the city is transformed with afternoon snacks of botifarra d'ou (egg sausage), masked dances, parades and sardine funerals.
And there is no Carnaval without its king, and King Carnestoltes will reach the city center punctually on February 20, Fat Thursday, to proclaim his reign of revelry.
The city's festival has changed dramatically since the first documented reference to the Carnaval, a 1333 regulation from the Consell de Cent government prohibiting any throwing of oranges and regulating the use of masks. Nowadays, the desire to have a good time and make merry is just as strong as it was 685 years ago. Twenty-first century Barcelona Carnaval is all about taking part, and also implies a degree of transgression, a spontaneous exercising of individual and collective freedom.
Click to see all public activities in the official program of Barcelona's 2020 Carnival.
For more events check our online events calendar.