Life In The Slow Lane : Carnaval in Mazatlan ~ 2013

Carnaval started for us unofficially January 19th with the Cats n' Jammer Jazz Mardi Gras night. Joel is out of town right now so it was just me at this event. We've not missed it for 3 years in a row. Saturday night however my friend Nadine agreed to be my date. Thanks Nadine. We did have fun!

February 7 - 12 will bring Mazatlan's annual Carnaval event. Big, Beautiful and Befitting of a new queen. Each year a new queen is voted in. It is a international event including the participation of the Queens from Central and South America and the United States adds to the international flavor of the Carnival festivities. The visiting beauties participate in the spectacular Carnival parades, and also compete for the title of Pacific International Queen.

We live right on the parade route and host a Carnaval party at our place. Our guests will be able to see the parade up close and personal. This highly-anticipated event of Carnival is the carriage float (or "allegorical" carriages) parade, which takes place on Sunday. The waterfront is somehow transformed into a sea of thousands from all over. Mazatleco families and visitors gathering to enjoy the parade of fantasies. This is the first of two parades. The second one follows on Tuesday also in front of our condo. We've not seen this one yet, so it will be fun to see the difference between the two.

Another one of the traditions of Carnaval is the Naval Combat ."On Saturday evening the harbor skies will glow with stunning fireworks displays, the air filled with the sights and sounds of the laser show, Naval Combat, a re-creation of the harbor's successful defense against French invasion by Mexican forces. The pyrotechnic bangs and shots simulate cannonades exchanged over sea and land during the battle between the Mazatlecos and the French man-of-war, "Le Cordeliere." "
[taken from Go Mazatlan] Please go to http://tinyurl.com/Go-Mazatlan to see some of the beautiful pictures of past Carnavals.

The Malecon [where we live] is being adorned with lights stringing for miles. At night time it is wonderful to see these all lit. Also erected on the malecon are 10 of what's called monigotes which means puppets and are actually very tall statues. The theme for 2013 is La Linterna Mágica, The Magic Lantern and the malecon has these very tall, 20+ foot statues of famous film stars of the past. As my brother Ken and my s-i-l Ruth and I were riding around yesterday my brother snapped a picture of these monigotes/statues to post here. Not easy to do in traffic.

Next year, maybe you will think about visiting Mazatlan for this exiting and historical event. Until next time, La Vida Es Buena!