Carnaval de Barranquilla!

So, we survived Carnaval! I caught the last two days of the celebration on the Sunday and then Monday after being in Medellín for a week.

I woke up at four in the morning and made my way to the airport. I took an hour flight to get to Baranquilla - where Carnaval is held each year!

I traveled here with two people I met: Monta and MK. We ended up splitting a hotel because it was actually cheaper to do that then it was two of the hostel. You would pay about $33 per night for just a hammock in a hostel where is you can get a hotel for about $25 a night, if the three of us shared a room.

We freshened up, got ready and then made our way to the parade grounds! It was so overwhelming to arrive there because we were warned of people selling fake tickets to sit in the stands and so it was really tough to figure out who is legitimate and who wasn’t. We ended up meeting a man who charged us 30,000 pesos ($12 Canadian) to sit in the stand and it also included a hot meal for lunch!

We were advised to arrive early because the stands fill up and so we got there around 11:45 in the morning. Little did we know, we were further down the route of the parade so we actually didn’t start seeing the parade until about 1:45!

You could flag down some of the workers in the stand and buy your self a beer for about two dollars. This is actually fairly pricy compared to the prices we have had at other places for beer but it was cold and delicious so we didn’t complain!

The parade runs for about 4 1/2 to 5 hours. The dancers and performers ranging in age from toddlers to people in their 80s. It was so amazing to see so many dancers go full out for the entire duration of the parade in the heat. (See photo below!)

I was impressed with how they kept the parade marchers hydrated. There was constantly people walking alongside the performers with Pedialyte and water for them to drink.

There were all sorts of costumes and assorted performances. We saw many of the traditional dances and outfits (see below).

We even saw a performer in the parade get engaged, but really didn’t know what was happening until she was hoisted up on his shoulder and showed off her new ring to the audience. 😂 (she is somewhere in the crowded photo below)

There were some gorgeous costumes that came through that were incredibly detailed - I couldnt imagine walking/dancing the entire length of this parade in some of them! There were some performances/costumes we saw but definitely wouldn’t slide in North America nowadays. Their bodies were painted black and had fake blood squirted into their mouths and they’d make crazy faces and move in interesting ways.

After some research, I learned that it is actually a traditional dance called, “El Son de Negro” where they tell the story of Colombia’s first slave settlements and how they would mock the Spaniards with exaggerated movements and facial expressions. From reading THIS SITE, it sounds like there is a mixture of crowds who think it is something that is racist and “makes a joke of” the Afro-Colombian people while others believe it is a tradition that is appropriate to continue to follow. I’m not sure what role the dolls play, but read more via that link above if you wish!

Here are some other photos of some crazy outfits:

From there, we went home to shower, freshen up and get ready to head into the streets for some post-parade parties! I left my phone at the hotel and only kept a money belt on under my shorts as theft is an issue at Carnaval.

We first started by going to a party sponsored by a beer company where we paid $14 to get in and got a six pack of beer with admission. It sounded like a great option until we realized you could only get light beer 😅 we danced and had some food there for a couple hours while live music was played before heading out to find more fun.

We met up with some other travellers MK and Monta knew from Medellín and stopped by a few places in the streets. At one shop, I was encouraged to get up and dance along with the music SO obviously I did! I danced for a while and when I was finished, they gave me a free beer! 👏🏼😂SO it is definitely worth it to dance when you have the opportunity!

We heard music playing down the street so went to check it out and it was a family get together that invited us in to dance with them and enjoy the music. People are so welcoming here and just want to have a good time. One of the ladies said to me “our family is your family!” And got me up dancing in the street. We found out shortly after it was a combined birthday party for three people and so we apologized but they didn’t mind us being there. HAHA! Regardless, we thanked them and politely excused ourselves to find some other party to attend.

Not far from, we found a street party filled with probably 250 people! Everyone was dancing and part of the celebrations here is that people have bags of corn starch and sprinkle it over one another so you’re bound to get some on you!

We danced and ate street food until around midnight, but we were definitely one of the first ones to leave the party! It likely goes all night (and even MK didn’t come back to the hotel until 7:00am!😂)

The next day Monta and I just hung out by the pool at the hotel after breakfast. I worked on my blog, plotted out the next week or so and chatted with my grandparents and Kurt over FaceTime.

We went out again that night and found an outdoor performance for free! It was an area that has food stands and drink stands. I ended up buying popcorn and a beer (ha!) and we watched traditional dances along with a solo contemporary piece, an acrobatic solo number and an acrobatic group number where they put on stilts partway through the routine! I really enjoyed just hanging out and watching - that’s my cup of tea. 😊

We made our way to another area where there was a huge concert going on. We just stood on the sidelines where the street food stalls were and had some steak on a skewer. Later on, we made our way to another street party with people dancing and singing in the streets. We returned home by 12:30am and called it a night then. 😅

We spent the next morning lounging around the pool before heading to the bus station to get to Santa Marta. Overall, I had a totally different idea as to what Carnaval would be like but it was still just as fun as I expected! I felt very safe throughout it all, but kept my belongings hidden on me in a money belt and left my phone at the hotel at night. We know someone who got robbed and had his phone taken, BUT this was at like 3am in some random street... so as the saying goes, “nothing good ever happens after midnight”😅

If you’re in the area during Carnaval in the future, I highly suggest going and experiencing it for yourself!

Stay wild,

T