Where in the world can you enjoy the best party before Lent? Been there readers recommend everything from a torchlit procession in Switzerland to full-on fiestas in South America
WINNING TIP: Mas Dominik carnival, Roseau, Dominica
This traditional pre-Lenten Caribbean carnival is friendly and uncommercialised. A mixture of African masquerade and French carnival traditions, it begins at dawn on the first day, when people take to the streets in costumes or pyjamas, banging drums or saucepans. The climax on Carnival Tuesday features costume bands. The streets are so narrow that no one can remain a spectator for long and will soon find themselves jumping up behind a band on a truck.
7-8 March, avirtualdominica.com
dorival
France
Nice Carnival
It's mid-February, but you could be strolling through the streets of Nice in your summer garb, enjoying lunch on a sun-kissed terrace, and watching the yachts drifting across the azure Baie des Anges. The Nice Carnival is centred on Place Mass�na, where you can marvel at the massive floats and merry procession of comical giant heads, troupes of musicians and assorted street art. And as a piece de resistance, you have the spectacle of the battle of flowers on the Promenade des Anglais. Nice offers a splendid combination of the Old Town, with its picturesque alleys, markets and Vieux Port, snuggled up against the wide avenues and pedestrian precincts of the New Town. C'est magnifique.
18 February to 8 March, nicecarnaval.com
Mick McGowan
Spain
C�diz carnival
C�diz has one of the oldest carnivals in the world thanks to its port ? sailors returned home from afar with fashions and trinkets that would be worn during street parties. Groups continue this tradition by dressing as today's celebrities while singing about current news. They are surrounded by revellers, who are also dressed up, resembling a massive British stag do. The atmosphere, however, is far more jubilant in this beautiful city with its narrow cobbled alleys and tiny bars serving delicious Andaluc�an food.
3-13 March, cadizturismo.com
Niterol
Santa Cruz de Tenerife carnival, Canary Islands
The main events kick off on Friday, 4 March at a parade with a carnival queen, Rio-style dancing groups and clowns. From then till Tuesday it's non-stop partying. No self-respecting reveller goes out before midnight, and they stagger home for breakfast. The Burial of the Sardine on Ash Wednesday, symbolising the end of carnal pleasures, is fun. Wailing widows, mostly blokes in drag, follow the giant fish to the main square, where it's burnt with tragicomic ceremony, followed by fireworks. The final fling is the next Saturday night so everyone can resume normal life on Monday? reluctantly.
To 13 March, carnavaltenerife.es
chrisdunham
Switzerland
Fasnacht, Basel
Three days of processions, bands in the streets, and people in costume reciting stories. There is fun and mayhem, with a lot of confetti thrown (being Swiss, they clean it up quickly). It begins at 4am in the marketplace. A procession of lanterns, drums and piccolos fills the dark square with light and sound. I once lived in Basel and have never forgotten the magic of their carnival.
14-16 March, basel.ch/en/
Paulinebonner
Germany
Schwarzwald carnival
Most towns and villages in the Black Forest run events from the Thursday before Shrove Tuesday to Ash Wednesday and beyond. Customs vary from children going from house to house collecting food, to processions of characters in carved wooden masks. Highlights for us have been the towns of Empfingen (for the straw bears) and Elzach (watch out for the pigs' bladders) and Villingen-Schwenningen.
3-8 March, schwarzwald.com/events/fasnacht.html
alisonwh
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad carnival
The grandaddy of Caribbean carnivals is an assault on the senses. The scale is hard to conceive, as the bigger bands of masqueraders hold thousands, and some costumed players can take up two lanes of the road and tower 20 feet in the air. Revellers parade through the streets to the pulsating sounds of soca music, and the steel pan orchestras are another delight. If you enjoy the Notting Hill carnival, you owe it to yourself to experience the real thing, for in Trinidad, people of all ethnic groups, social classes and ages take part in a public display of the nation's soul.
7-8 March, gotrinidadandtobago.com/trinidad/carnival/
dubwise1
Colombia
Barranquilla carnival
The hometown of Shakira! If you like music, colours, heaps of flowers, dancing, coloured masks, rum, folklore and much more, then Barranquilla is the place to go for carnival. Highlights include the Battle of the Flowers, with carts laden with kaleidoscopic flower arrangements, parades with dancers wearing giant heads with long noses, and, of course, the music of Colombia ? the cumbia, paloteo, congo ? and dancing to match. Colombians know how to party, and Barranquilla is the best of the best!
5-8 March, carnavaldebarranquilla.org
earthakitt
Bolivia
Oruro carnival
Thousands of dancers and musicians in amazing and sometimes outlandish costumes descend on (or rather ascend to) this sleepy old town 3,700m above sea level in the Andean plateau to party. Growing up there, I loved the water-balloon fights. Take changes of clothes and join in, but acclimatise to the altitude first, otherwise it will be difficult to walk fast, let alone dance.
5-6 March, travel-bolivia.com/carnaval-de-oruro.html
Yawar
Uruguay
Montevideo carnival
The longest and best carnival in the world. Why? The longest because it lasts more than 40 days. The best because of the passion, the colours, the music and the traditions. Although it is hosted in Montevideo, the capital, it involves the whole nation. From January to March everybody breaths, eats and dreams of carnival ... and the rest of the year they are preparing for it. It starts with parades in the main avenue to the drum's rhythm of the candombe. The election of the queens, the competitions, the public itself is a show. Best of all is that you see people from 0 to 100+ years old enjoying themselves in the same way.
January to March
AlexanderBattuta
Argentina
Gualeguaych� carnival
The Gualeguaych� carnival is a competition that runs on Saturdays in January and February, with the final in March. We went in 2010 and had an amazing time. There was a great vibe, and people from all over Argentina but hardly any tourists. A family standing next to us came all the way from Uruguay and said they did every year. The parade didn't finish until 2am, after which street parties continued all through the night.
To 5 March, welcomeargentina.com/carnavales/index_i.html
Egelantier
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/feb/14/readers-tips-carnivals-around-the-world
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