- Venue: Sambadrome (between Castanera and Garpar Garraf de France), Encarnación, Paraguay
- Website: www.carnavalencarnaceno.com.py
- Foundation date: 1916
- Time: every weekend of February
Paraguay is an amazing country in the central part of South America, which is very popular with visiting tourists. The cultural capital and one of the most beautiful cities of the state is Encarnación , known throughout the world thanks to the amazing action that takes place here every weekend of February. And the name of this celebration is Carnival!
Features of carnival in Paraguay
This holiday is the largest festival of the country and one of the main holidays of South America. It was first held in 1916. In those years, only men took part in the celebration, and the parade itself was more like a solemn march. In the times of deterioration of the political life of the state (20-ies of the XX century), the festival was suspended several times, but this did not affect its popularity with local residents and all foreign guests.
In 1936 the carnival in Paraguay again returns to the cultural life of the country, although more modestly. In the festival, then mainly local bands took part, which at that time had names like "Funny Guys" and "Improvizers". Since the 1950's, the festival began to participate and representatives of the fair sex, whose elegant and exotic dances became a real decoration of the festivities.
Carnival is not only the main event in the life of all Paraguayans, but also a very important contest for dancers. Entertaining the public, collectives and coaches compete among themselves in professionalism, technique, artistry, and assess their efforts by competent judges and juries. It is worth noting that far from the last role in this plays the appearance: the brighter and more colorful the costume, the more likely to win.
How to get to the carnival?
As already mentioned, the festival takes place in Encarnación, in the south of Paraguay. Annually this event attracts more than 120 thousand people, including foreign tourists. To contemplate firsthand the beauty of the celebration, go to the promenade of Costanera, where the enchanting spectacle takes place every February weekend.