Carnavál de Mazatlán 2014—this year with the theme Litoralia: Skin of the Sea—is fast approaching! To build some excitement and get your energies flowing, I post a few of the videos we’ve take during Carnavál the past couple of years. Get out your masks and confetti, put on your dancing shoes, and enjoy!

2012 Preparations for 2nd Parade
Great video of the kids rehearsing, putting on makeup, eating, and horsing around:

2013 Main Parade
Video from street level of the main parade at night, with dancers coming out to dance with us in the crowd and closeups of those in the parade.

2012 Queen Karla Coronation Fireworks
Video of the fireworks over the stadium——filmed from a distance where they can best be viewed——during the coronation of the 2012 Carnavál Queen, Karla.

2012 Main Parade
VERY short (30 second) view from the street, with closeups of the performers.

Remember that Mazatlán’s Carnavál is now the second largest in the world. In addition to the two main parades, the four coronations including their concerts and show productions, two huge fireworks displays, and this year’s additional two concerts by El Recodo and Los Recoditos, there is ALSO a bullfight, painting and literature competitions, a gastronomic festival, a fair (with rides, county fair style), a couple of balls (a children’s ball and a masquerade ball), and the party zone in Olas Altas, where dozens of bands will play each night, till the wee hours of the morning.
View CULTURA’s calendar for this year’s Carnavál here.
View details of the normal annual events here.