The Pre-Carnival kicks off today and so here is the Official Program for Carnaval de Barranquilla 2010 (in Spanish).
Carnival Singer Hospitalised
The singer, Carlos Vivo, who was predicted to make a special appearance at “Carnaval de Barranquilla 2010” was hospitalised yesterday and remains under observation. His doctors say he is out of danger but would not give details.
The carnival queens arrive in Bogota to showcase the Barranquilla carnival.
This float design really captures the happiness of the carnival, click the image to see the full set of creative designs.
It’s a greater honour to be queen of the carnival than any other thing, even more than being Miss Colombia
Giselle Lacouture (Queen of Barranquilla Carnival 2010)
The gorgeous 22 year old Giselle Lacouture has been named the queen of the carnival 2010.
For the second year running, The Monica Lindo Dance Company and Los Chamanes musical group are bringing the colours and rhythms of Barranquilla’s Carnival to China by performing at the “Meet in Beijing” festival. The festival sees musical and dance groups from throughout the world join together in a celebration of cultures. Mónica Pretty, director of the dance company, emphasises that China “is a different experience, although we are at opposite poles geographically, we identify with one another because there is a lot of colour, a lot of richness and variety.”
The dances, such as the Cumbia, aim to show the culture of Barranquilla, where the Spanish, African, and native cultures are mixed.
The groups were well received by the Chinese public who gave them a rapturous reception and they will continue their tour in the coming weeks, visiting Chengdu, Shanghai and Lianyungan amongst others. See the official website of the dance group.
Carnival Television
I’ve had a lot of people asking if there will be any television coverage of the festival. Two good streaming broadcasts of Colombian televsion channels that I know of are TV Colombia and this Barranquilla station. The latter channel almost exclusively covers the carnival around this time of year. They are not 24 hour streams but generally broadcast for most of each day, so if one is not currently live then just check back later. If anyone knows of any others, feel free to let me know and I’ll post them up here.
As you can see this photo from todays edition of El Heraldo, it’s not just the people who get dressed up for the carnival. This house is one of 43 entered into “Fachadas del Carnaval” - a contest which involves people dressing in disguise and decorating houses. The carnival is like a son to Yolanda Hernández, an entrant in the competition, and she celebrates it with passion each year. She says “We like to do this and enjoy it as a family, with my grandchildren and children. We all love these festivals as good barranquilleros.”
Full article in spanish here.
