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

Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

holiday held in Ponce,

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. The celebration lasts one week, and like most observations of the holiday ends on Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras Day, the day before

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent: the seven weeks of Christian prayer, prayer, Religious fasting#Christianity, fasting and ...

). Thus, like the Carnival holiday in general, it is usually held in February and or March. It dates back to 1858. Some authorities, such as the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

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

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ; also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, the

Carnival of Venice The Carnival of Venice (; ) is an annual festival held in Venice, Italy, famous throughout the world for its elaborate costumes and masks. The Carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday (''Martedì Grasso'' or Mardi Gras), which is the day before the star ...

, and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

's Carnival and hundreds of other places that observe this holiday around the world. The estimated attendance is 100,000. Scenes of the 2011 Carnaval Ponceño were featured in the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...

on 7 August 2011.

History

There are no documents stating the

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (eithe ...

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 employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...

dance by a

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...

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

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

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

Afro The afro is a hair style created by combing out natural growth of afro-textured hair, or specifically styled with chemical curling products by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair.Garland, Phyl"Is The Afro On Its Way Out?" '' Ebo ...

Antillean The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater An ...

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 honor o ...

, over 200 entertainers, folk artists and musicians from Ponce, in addition to the

Banda Municipal de Ponce The Ponce Municipal Band (Spanish: ''Banda Municipal de Ponce''), also known as ''Centenaria Banda Municipal de Ponce'', is the band of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The band is the oldest continuously-performing band in the Caribbean ...

and the Carnival's Queen and Child Queen, marched down New York's

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

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 "

vejigante A vejigante is a folkloric character in Puerto Rican festival celebrations, mainly seen during Carnival time. Traditional colors of the vejigantes were green, yellow and red, or red and black. Today, vejigantes wear brightly colored, ornate ma ...

s", which is a colorful costume traditionally representing the

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

or evil. Vejigantes carry blown cow

bladder The bladder () is a hollow organ in humans and other vertebrates that stores urine from the kidneys. In placental mammals, urine enters the bladder via the ureters and exits via the urethra during urination. In humans, the bladder is a distens ...

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