Carnaval de Barranquilla

Four days, in order

1. la reina A year before: the queen is chosen A young woman who will open the carnival, dancing for six hours on her float. Her companion is the Rey Momo, an older man with a reputation as a dancer.
2. la Batalla de Flores Saturday: the Battle of Flowers A parade of floats held since 1903.
3. la calle Sunday to Tuesday: the street Dancing, drinking, foam and flour thrown at everyone, brass bands from the river villages, and nobody sleeping more than three hours.
4. Joselito Tuesday night: the burial of Joselito A puppet representing the festival is buried, mourned by widows who cry and laugh at the same time. Ash Wednesday follows.

• The carnival takes up the four days before Ash Wednesday; UNESCO's listing says the same: the four days before Lent.
• It opens on Saturday with the Batalla de Flores, a parade of floats held since 1903, led by the carnival queen.
• On Tuesday night Joselito Carnaval, a puppet representing the festival, is buried, with widows who cry and laugh at once.

Cuatro días antes del Miércoles de Ceniza, Barranquilla deja de trabajar.

Four days before Ash Wednesday, Barranquilla stops working.

El carnaval empieza el sábado con la Batalla de Flores, un desfile de carrozas que se hace desde 1903.

The carnival begins on Saturday with the Battle of Flowers, a parade of floats that has been held since 1903.

Durante cuatro días se baila en la calle, se bebe, se tiran espuma y harina, y nadie duerme más de tres horas.

For four days people dance in the street, drink, throw foam and flour, and nobody sleeps more than three hours.

Who is who

The characters

• la reina del carnaval the queen, chosen a year earlier
• el Rey Momo King Momo, who represents joy
• Joselito Carnaval the puppet who is the festival, buried on Tuesday
• las viudas the widows: men and women in black who mourn him

Costumes and dances

• la marimonda a mask with big ears and a long nose like a trunk — Invented by a poor man to mock the rich; its noise is a raspberry.
• el congo danced with flower hats and a wooden machete — Of African origin, says UNESCO.
• el garabato death chases the dancers and is defeated by life
• el paloteo a stick dance of Spanish origin — Named in UNESCO's listing.

The music

• la cumbia the predominant genre, with variants like puya and porro
• el mapalé a fast drum dance
• las bandas de viento brass bands from the river villages
• la tambora y el alegre the drums, with maracas and claves — Instruments named by UNESCO.

• The most famous costume is the marimonda, a mask with big ears and a long trunk-like nose; the congo is danced with flower hats and a wooden machete, and in the garabato death chases the dancers.
• UNESCO names dances of the Americas (mico y micas), of Africa (the congo) and of Spain (the paloteo); cumbia is the predominant music, with variants such as puya and porro, played by drum ensembles or wind bands.

El disfraz más famoso es la marimonda: una máscara con orejas grandes y una nariz larga como una trompa.

The most famous costume is the marimonda: a mask with big ears and a long nose like a trunk.

La música es cumbia, mapalé y porro, y la tocan bandas de viento que vienen de los pueblos del río.

The music is cumbia, mapalé and porro, and it is played by brass bands that come from the river villages.

What UNESCO recognised, and the motto

Barranquilla sits at the mouth of the Magdalena, and for centuries the music of the Andes, the indigenous peoples and the Africans came down the river and mixed here. UNESCO proclaimed the carnival in 2003 and inscribed it on the Representative List in 2008, describing a port where European, African and indigenous cultures converged, a festival that satirises political life, and a risk: that growing commercialisation threatens its traditional expressions.

The city's own motto is on every wall: Quien lo vive es quien lo goza. No description will do; you have to be there.

• UNESCO inscribed the Carnival of Barranquilla on the Representative List in 2008; the list it belongs to was originally proclaimed in 2003, the year the piece gives.
• UNESCO describes Barranquilla as a trading centre where European, African and indigenous peoples converged, a carnival that satirises politics, and growing commercialisation as a threat to its traditional expressions.
• Barranquilla calls its carnival the second biggest in the world after Rio de Janeiro.
• Shakira was born in Barranquilla and danced in the carnival as a child.

Por el río llegaron durante siglos las músicas de los Andes, de los pueblos indígenas y de los africanos, y aquí se mezclaron.

Down the river, for centuries, came the music of the Andes, of the indigenous peoples and of the Africans, and here they mixed.

El lema del carnaval está en todas las paredes de la ciudad: "Quien lo vive es quien lo goza".

The carnival's motto is on every wall in the city: "Who lives it is who enjoys it".