When pressed to give a description of Carnival in La Paz, I am tempted to just string along a long list of outrageous adjectives and call it good. Loud, flamboyant, impressive, colorful, sexy, huge, are just a few of the first ones that come to mind.



Jeanne and I returned to La Paz in order to be able to take in at least a couple of days of this annual event held in La Paz. We had been given warning by locals and cruisers alike, that this is a crazy time, with a huge influx of people. Estimates of over 10,000 more people that the town had sleeping places for! That we would be seeing people sleeping on the beaches, and in the streets. We also heard that the criminal element was here in force and to really watch out for thieves, pick-pockets and the like. I would like to point out that so far, for our part, none of the above has proven to be true! The crowds are in huge....shoulder to shoulder 3 lanes wide once the parade has passed. But, and this is a huge point for us, they are all smiling!! Families have come out in force, dressed to the nines, and very impressive in how controlled, but fun loving they are! Families, many times with three generations all in attendance.



With the previous fore warnings, we came back to La Paz from the sleepy, quiet islands of Espirtu Santos. There is no question in my mind, that the Mexican people know how to do loud....and do it well. The venue for this years carnival is stretched along nearly 3 miles of the Malecon. In that short little area, are no less that 6 different stages for the live bands and the main attractions that are scheduled to appear. It is kinda like "Battle of the Bands" on steroids! The music starts around 5:00 PM except when there is a parade, and then they push back their start to after the parade has gone by. This in turn allows them to extend the time when they quit at night (well morning) to after 3:00 AM.



The parade it self was so incredible. While they did not have the impressive finessed touches that you might see in a Macy's type parade, they are colorful, well thought out, and very well attended. Each was pulled by a local work or delivery truck, with the daily drivers doing duty on parade day. Beauty queens, south pacific dancers, vaqueros, and pirates all in full costume, dancing and smiling.



After each of the floats, there were huge groups of brightly dressed dancers or characters that were relevant to that preceding float. Age had no bearing on participation either. From age 5 to 95..they were all out walking, dancing or riding along...and smiling! The Floats all were made locally, so you see many of the construction methods based on the things that they can get their hands on right here in town. Empty cans and bottle used as filler, old CD's and DVD's used to provide flash, or in one case as fish scales. Wire, wood, paper and plastic, all used in one manner or another to get a certain effect.



This years theme was "Legends and Super Heros in La Paz History", so many of the floats featured mythical beings that have been featured in bed time stories and ramblings from around a camp fire. There were a few of the more main stream super heros, like Superman and Spiderman.



Masks, hats and bright colorful holiday attire were common place among the the huge crowds. Cotton candy, carts and wagons all selling every kind of treat, American as well as local Mexican fare. One unique feature of Carnival was the egg shells filled with confetti. Thousands of them being sold, or brought from home. The are thrown around the street, at each other and in some cases the target was a person or persons on one of the floats. The other unique feature, at least for us was the porta-potties all had a fee for use. $5 pesos, which at the current exchange rate equals to .37 cents. That, and many were placed on some of the side streets that intersect with the Malecon, so you were leaning to the right or leaning to the left depending on which row you went into.



I did not count, but there must have been nearly 30 floats, 5000 participants, and a crowd so huge, I could not even guess! Yet again, the prevailing theme for me that night was the smiles!! they were every were. No pushing or shoving, even when the parade was gone past, and everyone filed into the street to mingle, or walk up and down the street. The bands began to warm up, the food vendors were cranking up the tacos, churros, the arachera, the Poppas (potatoes), and nachos. There were probably a hundred food booths, 20 booths that featured $1.00 beers, and at least a dozen that poured mixed drinks. Clothing, pottery, kitchen goodies, jewelry, and balloons...there was a booth for every one.



Jeanne and I have had an amazing time in Mexico, and especially here in La Paz, this so far this was the cherry on the top of the ice cream sundae. We had so much fun, walking with the locals, talking to as many as we could, and just smiling right along with all the others!



If you look very closely in the following few pictures you will see some of many local items used to build these remarkable floats! CD's old albums, chicken wire, it is amazing the beauty of these locally constructed displays!!