The Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is one of the oldest celebrations, with the city’s greatest history and its own personality. This event has been held in the capital of Gran Canaria for over five centuries.

The festival made its first significant leap in the mid 19th Century with the emergence of socio-cultural institutions with the faculty to organise parties for various occasions, complemented by the first parades of floats.

The modern carnival took on its current magnitude from 1976 onwards. This was when the parties in the street were recovered. A few months after Franco’s death, authorisation was obtained to bring the carnival back onto the city’s streets, and a costume parade was held after 40 years of prohibition.

1998 marked a turning point in the recent history of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Carnival as the year of the first Drag Queen Gala. The show surpassed all expectations and has since established itself as a flagship event and the festival’s calling card overseas.

Over the last thirty years, the carnival has become the most socially and economically important festival of the island of Gran Canaria and one of its main tourist attractions. It is a celebration that has known how to adapt to the new demands in leisure and entertainment of a mass media society, while preserving all its common flavour.

At the same time, it has become a festival that is capable of reinventing itself with time by incorporating new functions and events.

Categories: blog, Gran Canaria