Of all the crazy Spanish fiestas that take place throughout the year there is nothing wilder than the Carnival celebrations starting this weekend. The week leading up to Lent is a time for wild partying in some parts of Spain when the country plays host to Europe’s biggest and best Carnival festivals.
There are a few speculations on the origins of Carnival in Spain. Most popularly it is believed the term Carnival derives from the words “farewell to the flesh,” a reference to the excesses that led up to the sombre Lent. Some suspect Carnival is derived from the Roman solstice festival, the Saturnalia, where participants indulged in much drinking and dancing. Saturnalia is believed to have had the first parade floats, called the ‘carrus navalis’. With these pagan roots it’s easy to see why the dictator General Franco banned them for forty years!
Carnival in Spain is celebrated nationwide though the most raucous festivities are in the Canary Islands, Cadiz and Sitges. While each town has its own unique flavour of celebration they all have a devotion to having a good time. In these main destinations during Carnival it seems that no one sleeps as the drinking and dancing go from dusk until dawn. You’ll see extravagant costumes and people in masks everywhere and, in any of Spain’s Carnivals, you’ll have a lot more fun participating in the masquerading than you will just watching.
Although on a different level to the Canary Islands, Carnival has already kicked off in the Russafa district of Valencia; it's time to get your costume ready and prepare for this multicultural festival, when the streets of this emblematic neighborhood in Valencia get full of color and joy. Angels and demons live together in balconies and windows, and you can hear the first chords of acoustic music concerts that flood every corner and every street. The Carnival comes to Russafa and Valencia is happy to start the feast.
The carnival activities in the neighborhood of Russafa begin on Friday, February 13th, at 7 pm, with the Proclamation of "Russafa a Peu", on the Market of Ruzafa. That day coincides with the opening of the exhibition "A les balconades" (In the balconies), an activity which fills with art and creativity the balconies in the neighborhood.
This year, the acoustic concerts are a new activity which will be performed, on Saturday, February 14th and Friday, February 20th, from the balconies of Russafa, thus integrating music into the neighborhood and Carnival activities. Thursday, February 19th, is the day of Teatre al balcó (Theatre in the balcony), a guided tour through the streets of the neighborhood, where you can enjoy theater plays with a focus on social issues and protest, carried out on balconies with art work.
On February 21st, starting at 1 pm, the Manuel Granero Park hosts the Social Fair: activities, stalls, creative stands, artisans, social groups and shops, as well as musical and artistic performances and children's entertainment! In the afternoon, at five o'clock it's time for the Grand Carnival Parade, with an itinerary more than four hours long through several streets of Russafa. 
More than sixty groups from different countries will participate in the event. With the collaboration of the neighbors, a number of additional activities complement the program. Fifty local entertainment and hospitality businesses, as well as several cultural, social and artistic groups, are also partners in the initiative. So if you happen to be in Valencia this weekend, there is plenty to keep you busy!