The Carnaval de Ponce (English: Ponce Carnival), officially Carnaval Ponceño, is an annual celebration held in Ponce,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. The celebration lasts one week and it ends on the day before Ash Wednesday. Thus, it is generally held in February and sometimes in March. It is one of the oldest carnivals of the

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, dating back to 1858. Some authorities, such as the

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, believe the Ponce Carnaval can be traced to as far back as 250 years ago. The Carnaval coincides with the Mardi Gras of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, the

Carnival of Venice The Carnival of Venice ( it, Carnevale di Venezia) is an annual festival held in Venice, Italy. The carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday (''Martedì Grasso'' or Mardi Gras), which is the day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. The festival is w ...

, and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

's Carnival. The estimated attendance is 100,000. Scenes of the 2011 Carnaval Ponceño were featured in the

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on 7 August 2011.

History

There are no documents stating the official origin of the Carnaval, but there are documents mentioning the celebration as early as 1858. The Carnaval de Ponce thus began in 1858 and was started as a

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...

dance by a

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by the name of José de la Guardia. The masquerade dance continued as a tradition through the years, but it was not until the 1950s that the municipal government added the parade to the Carnaval. In the early 1960s, the Carnaval began to integrate floats that represented civic and cultural institutions, public and private residential communities, schools, colleges and universities, banking, industry and commerce. The Office of Cultural Development of the Municipality of Ponce explains that “it is believed that the influence of the

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Carnival extended to

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and that immigrants from Barcelona brought it to Ponce. With the passing of time Poceans have added their own touches with

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- Antillean music that fills the celebrations with percussion, rhythm and happiness." In June 1995, Carnaval de Ponce was taken to New York City where, during the

Puerto Rican Day Parade The Puerto Rican Day Parade (also known as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade) takes place annually in the United States along Fifth Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The parade is held on the second Sunday in June, in hon ...

, over 200 entertainers, folk artists and musicians from Ponce, in addition to the Banda Municipal de Ponce and the Carnival's Queen and Child Queen, marched down New York's Fifth Avenue as part of that City's Puerto Rican Day Celebration. During the week leading to the Parade, folk artists from the Carnaval de Ponce, toured the City teaching children to make the traditional Ponce carnival's masks. In 2012, a local news weekly called Carnaval de Ponce "Puerto Rico's National Carnival".

Costumes and masks

One of the traditions of the Carnaval is the appearance of the " vejigantes", which is a colorful costume traditionally representing the

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or evil. Vejigantes carry blown cow

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s with which they make sounds and hit carnival attendees throughout the processions. The traditional vejigante masks of the Ponce carnival are made of paper mache and are characterized by the presence of multiple horns. The mask was developed by Ponce artisans in the early part of the 20th century. They are made from newsprint paper mixed with homemade glue and paint. Sophisticated Ponce carnival masks are sought after by mask collectors and masks from Ponce have become a symbol of Puerto Rico at large. The Carnaval ends with the Burial of the Sardine, at which point everyone sings a song in Spanish that translates into: The burial of the Sardine event started in 1967. (The Ball Dance was also started in 1967.The burial of the Sardine event started in 1967. ''The Carnival is dead now'' ''They are burying him;'' ''Throw just a little dirt in'' ''So he can rise again.''

Economics

The municipal government invests close to $100,000 in the Carnival and the event infuses some $500,000 into the city's economy.

List of events

The Carnaval starts on the Wednesday before Ash Wednesday, and the events are as follows. Wednesday: Vejigantes Party
Thursday: King Momo Entrance Parade
Friday: Crowning of the Child Queen
Saturday: Crowning of the Carnival Adult Queen
Sunday: Main Parade
Monday: Carnival's Ball Dance
Tuesday: Burial of the Sardine

Carnaval queens and child queens

In 1959, the Carnaval introduced the crowning of a Carnaval queen. This was followed, in 1973, with the crowning of a Carnaval child queen. The following are the Carnaval queens and child queens.Unless otherwise indicated, this information is taken from ''Carnaval Ponceños 2012: Dedicado a los "Ponceños y Ponceñistas destacados en los Medios de Comunicación".'' Page 34. Municipio Autónomo de Ponce. Oficina de Desarrollo Cultural. February 2012.

History

Costumes and masks

Economics

List of events

Carnaval queens and child queens

Carnaval Queens

Carnaval Child queens

See also

Notes

References

External links