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Go Wild at the Tenerife Carnival This February

Published: Wed 05 Dec 2012 at 09:43

Updated: Wed 05 Dec 2012 at 09:52

Announcements

If you think that Tenerife is nothing more than just a summer holiday destination, think again. One of the best times of the year to visit this beautiful Canary Island is in fact February, when the Tenerife Carnival sweeps the towns of Santa Cruz and Puerto de la Cruz, bringing with it an explosion of music, colour and celebration, plus many millions of sequins!

Preparations for the Tenerife Carnival start many months in advance, and one of the first official events is the election of the ‘Carnival Queens’. Make sure you arrive on cheap flights to Tenerife in time to see them parade through the streets on their extravagant floats, accompanied by their Maids of Honour and entourages, as well as the traditional ‘murgas’ in bright clown costumes who are always a crowd favourite.

Fishy Festivities

The celebrations of the Tenerife Carnival run for an entire week, and the half-way point is denoted by the Burial of the Sardine, on Ash Wednesday. This is where the Carnival’s deeply emotional side comes to the fore as an enormous paper maché sardine is carried to the harbour, followed by a funeral cortege, before being set alight as fireworks explode in the sky above. This ritual is intended to represent rebirth and transformation, but for the casual witness visiting on cheap flights to Tenerife with Jet2.com, it’s just a fantastic fireworks display!

It’s not without much fanfare that Carnival week comes to a close either, and things get really wild on the final night with the Gran Cosa Apoteosis. As the parade passes through the streets locals lean out of their windows and balconies to throw confetti and streamers on the revellers, so why not try befriending a local to see if they’ll let you get the best possible view!

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