The summer Carnival served to reduce a bit the party monkey of a city, of an Island, in which the carnival is the most anticipated public celebration each year. After a two-year period without being able to celebrate carnivals in a traditional way, in this 2023 As it has just begun, and without time to put away the Christmas tree, the party is already heating up its engines, and it is so strong that in just 12 days it will officially start.
The groups give the final touches to their fantasies, the designers speed up the preparation of the costumes that aspire to take the scepter of Carnival Queen, and of course, the carnival-goers are already looking for everything related to the costume that they are going to wear in the streets of Santa Cruz, both at night and during the day.
Some doubts have already been cleared up, such as who will be the artists that can be seen on the street, with Óscar de León at the helm, but also La India or Elvis Crespo, some of the names that will bring the songs of a lifetime to the Carnival.
However, there are other issues that are taking longer than expected, such as the preparation of the Fairgrounds stage. Thus, although everything smells of Carnival, the truth is that the Autonomous Organization for Fiestas and Recreational Activities (Oafar), headed by Alfonso Cabello, does not stop avoiding setbacks of all kinds, which make the Fiestas machinery work to the limit. And it is that, as Cabello recalls, it cannot be forgotten that the Oafar organized a summer Carnival, with all the effort that this entails, that it got fully involved in the Christmas and Epiphany events, at the same time that it prepared the Carnival of 2023.
This Monday, the structures that will shape the city of New York should have begun to be assembled, just as Carlos Santos designed it. However, the setbacks have been happening, from a first tender that was abandoned, to the last of the setbacks and that has forced Fiestas, after having awarded through a negotiated without publicity, to have to repeat this step, but also separating the different concepts of the construction to be able to arrive on time.
“We will have a stage,” says the mayor of Fiestas, who admits that the Oafar machinery is working to the limit. “The lack of material, the prices of these, and the administrative process itself means that we go very fair, but there will be a stage,” he insists.
While trying to speed up this process, which could be resolved before the middle of next week, progress is being made on issues such as the sale of tickets for the contests, which begin on January 26, the requests from the groups associated with their performances, the auction of stalls for the street party, the self-protection plans, the hiring of artists, the coordination of security and cleaning…
A work schedule that makes the Councilor for Fiestas insist on the need, looking to the future, for the Carnival to have its own organizational entity, which frees an overwhelmed Oafar, who, as he recalls, is not only in charge of the Carnival, but also of the May festivities, Christmas and Epiphany, and the rest of the activities that take place in the neighbourhoods. Although as Cabello admits, every year he goes to the limit and always comes out.
The mayor of Fiestas admits that the expectations for this Carnival of 2023 are through the roof. “People are responding in a brutal way to everything we organize. You just have to look at the data from the reception of the Three Wise Men in the stadium, the best in history, and with nearly 100,000 people in the streets. So, with the Carnival, we are anticipating that it will be one of the most massive that we have ever had, ”says the mayor.
Calendar
On January 20, the Carnival of Santa Cruz 2023 will officially begin. That day the order of participation of the candidates for Queen in the different categories will be drawn. The next act will be the beginning of the contests with the children’s murgas, who will take the stage on Thursday 26.
The adult murgas will close January and open February since the calendar establishes that the first phase of the contest will be on Monday, January 30, the second phase on Tuesday 31, the third on Wednesday, February 1, and the final on Friday 3. The first The week of February will end with the musical groups (on Saturday the 4th), and the Gala for the Election of the Children’s Queen, on the 5th.
During the second week of February, the Gala for the Election of the Queen and the Festival of Groups of the Elderly will be held, on February 8; the Song of Laughter, on February 10; the performance of comparsas, on February 11, and the Costume Contest and the Rondallas Contest, on February 12.
The events at the Fairgrounds will close with the Gala for the Election of the Carnival Queen, on Wednesday, February 15.
The street arrives on February 17, with the announcing Parade, and with it the first weekend of dances, including the first Daytime Carnival, on Sunday the 19th. El Coso Apotheosis, on Tuesday the 21st; Burial of the Sardine, on the 22nd; and the Piñata weekend, will put an end to one of the most anticipated Carnivals.
What are Murgas please?
when the tickets for the Gala for the Election of the Carnival Queen will be available?