Carnaval in Guaymas Feb 2013

 

Celebrating 125 Years

 

 

 

Carnaval is an exciting event in Guaymas. There are parades, contests, beauty pageant and entertainment over four days.

 

 

Guaymas holds one of Mexico’s major Carnaval celebrations, and is one of the oldest in the country. In 1888, the first Carnaval Queen and King were paraded on the streets of Guaymas in a coach, followed by coaches carrying their entourage. The event ended with a grand ball that night.

 

 

Initially, the Carnaval event was restricted to the upper classes. The lower classes watched the annual parade, but the most important events were the balls given at various mansions. This tradition continued until the Mexican revolution.


The queen was determined by which group provided the most money for Carnaval events, which led to widespread cheating and scandals, especially in the year 1927, when the military had to get involved to keep order.

 

 

Eventually floats were added to the parades and there were both private and public balls. Masks hiding identity were permitted, allowing for the playing of practical jokes.

 

 

By the 1960s and 1970s, the Carnival had evolved into an entirely popular event with mass participation, bringing in many visitors to the city.  

 

 

People started gathering along the parade route hours before the official starting time. We knew parking would be horrible so we took a bus along with our new friends Frank and Cheryl. They had been to Carnaval before and were familiar with downtown Guaymas. Guaymas is a fairly large city with a population of 101,500. Most streets don't have street signs and its a crazy maze at night.

 

 

 

Street vendors were everywhere, selling everything from balloons, confetti and masks to snacks. 

 

 

"Dulces Y Botanas" Candies and nuts. 



 

Carnaval was very popular with kids. They were really having a great time.

 

 

Kids had a great time having foam fights.





 Cascading ribbons and confetti for 10 pesos.

      

 

 

 

The plastic bows were really popular with the girls. We discovered later on that they light up and the night was full of bouncing bows.

 

 

 



Get a load of these alligator boots.
 

Wigs were a really hot item. 

 

 

Frank and Cheryl meet the mascot from "Casa de Empenos" (pawnshop).

 

 

Greg was getting into the spirit and bogeying with "the orange guy".

 

I chose someone a little sexier to boggy with. Meet the dancin' fool.

 

This guy entertained us and the rest of the crowd for hours. His energy was incredible. When he wasn't dancing with the ladies, he danced with the children.

When he saw me taking his picture he came over and insisted that I dance with him. I wasn't going to say no.

The parade was advertised to start at 4pm but Cheryl had told me it never starts on time. It is Mexico after all. When we saw the flashing lights and heard sirens we knew it was getting close and it was after 5:30pm. Motor cycle cops came along indicating that everyone had to "stay behind the line" to keep the parade route clear. When these guys showed up, we knew they were serious.

 

GRIM is right! Yikes!

Cheryl said she felt uncomfortable with these guys. Having those guns only inches from my head was a little disturbing. Remember that the military used to be necessary to keep the peace.

Maybe it was supposed to be a float representing the Guaymas police - think not.

 

 The parade started with a large band with a great brass and drum section.

 ...followed by a group of baton twirlers.

The floats had an international theme this year. This one representing Asia was quite beautiful.

 The float was followed by a group of girls doing parasol dances.

This was obviously the mythical "Phoenix" but something was lost in translation. We enjoyed seeing the floats but we had no idea what they related to.

 

 Almost every float had children on  them. These kids looked like they were headed for one of those fancy balls at a mansion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most gorgeous floats was based on Russia.

As the parade progress the crowd kept pushing into the street. As the sun set the crowd consumed the parade and you couldn't tell one from the other. The Dancin' Fool saw a float he liked and he jumped on. It got to the point that it was almost impossible to photograph anything. My photos got fuzzy because I was standing on tiptoe and couldn't hold still.

 

After the parade ended we headed to Sauce de Palmas for dinner. A gentleman was walking near us and asked where we were headed. When we told him Sauce de Palmas he guided us all the way there. After the long walk and dinner we had to find a bus back to San Carlos before they stopped running. We must have looked like Keystone Cops running back and forth between corners. Another Mexican took pity on us and helped us find the right bus. It was packed with people returning from Carnaval. The Mexican men - and teenagers - are very respectful of women. The instant we got on the bus people were offering me and Cheryl their seats. First a young man offered and I declined. Then a large man stood up and said "SIT DOWN". He sounded like he meant business, so I did.