Carnaval Cancun Offers Travelers Large-Scale Celebration

What is Carnaval Cancun?  Every year, with the week before Ash Wednesday, the Carnaval Cancun comes upon the famous tourist city with a spirit of celebration, revelry and fun.  The feverous celebration continues on for three days throughout the streets of Downtown Cancun, delighting Cancun residents and tourists.  Carnaval Cancun brings to the city vivacious parades, deafening sounds of celebration and the best in fine culinary dining.  What kind of sights and sounds can you expect when you come in the weeks of Carnaval Cancun?

Many consider the peak of the celebration to be the arrival of the parades.  Imagine lively and colorful parades that take place over three days, with the most dazzling sights like beautiful harem girls, stilts men, dancing teams, exotic costumes and hundreds of people just having fun.  Not only can you experience the excitement of the parade, but you can even experience the countdown to the parade, and Cancun residents start dancing in anticipation of what's to come.  Tradition states that Carnaval members give flowers and candy to the audience.  Some Carnaval members have also been known to give Mardi Gras beads instead of candy or flowers, which is fine by the college crowd!  The atmosphere of Carnaval Cancun is contagious—the excitements build from weeks prior to the parade and climaxes upon arrival with crowds filling the street well in advance to catch a glimpse of the action.

The dancers you see in the Carnaval Cancun take their "fun" very seriously.  These groups, usually made of around 40 or more dancers, go through tremendous preparation to perfect their dance moves and craft their costumes.  The Cancun Carnaval is the largest yearly festival in the region.  However, keep in mind that the Cancun Carnaval mainly travels through the Downtown area.  If you stay in the Hotel Zone, where much of the action of Cancun is, you may miss a lot of the festivities.  Look forward to many of Cancun's most exciting performances, from bands to dances and masks, parades, floats and fireworks.

The Cancun Carnaval is held between mid February and mid March, the week right before Ash Wednesday.  However, know that specific days and dates can change from year to year.  This is one of the best ways to get to know Cancun culture, through the Carnaval atmosphere.  Many of the locals participate in this event and fill the streets with music, dancing, bright costumes and food.  There are many floats in the parade, and a variety of costumes, from big lovable animals to face and body painted dancers to scantily clad harem girls in masks! 

When you visit Cancun, you are visiting one of Mexico's biggest cities for tourism.  One of the reasons why Cancun is so popular is because of its cultural significance.  The people of Cancun take great pride in their parade and do their best every year to make them exciting and interactive fun for the whole family.  If you're becoming to Cancun during the peak season, make your plans to coincide with the Carnaval Cancun festivities and experience fun like never before!