Not only in Germany, especially in the carnival stronghold Cologne, the 5th season is celebrated extensively. Also in other countries, the carnival season, with its extraordinary costumes and spectacular parades, enjoys great popularity.
We have put together the craziest carnival festivities in the world, which you should definitely visit once – apart from Cologne and Rio de Janeiro.
Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean – Carnival in the tropics
In the Caribbean, you can experience the 5th season in a completely different way – with 30 degrees and tropical flair. Carnival participants in glittering costumes, colourful feathers and original masks having fun together, dancing to the rhythm of the music, in a dreamlike environment.
Not without reason, the inhabitants of Trinidad and Tobago gave the festivities the name “The Greatest Show on Earth”. In the Caribbean, the carnival has been celebrated since the 18th century, after the French brought the tradition from Europe. Since then, people dress up once a year and present their traditional, extraordinary costumes. Besides the costumes, the inhabitants also paint themselves with chocolate, mud, oil and paint. The aim is to disguise the obvious such as gender, age or skin colour. In the end, Carnival is all about having fun, regardless of where you come from.
You can easily share such a spectacle with your loved ones at home using the Postando Postcard App. Preferably in the form of a video that you can attach to your postcard in the app. It’s almost like your loved ones are with you on the other side of the world, experiencing the tropical carnival!
Galaxidi, Greece – Off to the flour battle
It’s best to dress directly with a mask in Galaxidi in addition to the costume because the festivities in the Greek Galaxidi end with the so-called “Alevromoutzouroma”, a flour war. The participants throw coloured flour at each other until they are no more recognizable at all. Under the motto “Courage to Ugliness”, the participants with the weirdest costume get the largest portion of flour and thus enjoy a small advantage in the flour war. However, only locals are allowed to take part in the “war” – but visitors are welcome to watch the spectacle. Nevertheless, caution is advised, because the “warriors” do not shy away from distributing flour towards the spectators.
Your loved ones will be especially happy about a postcard with the motives of different flour attacks.
Solsona, Spain – the dance with the giant dolls
Solsona is a rather unknown carnival destination in Europe – but nevertheless a very special carnival madness takes place here. Within Spain, the carnival in Solsona is very famous and even reached the status of a national cultural asset in 1978.
The festivities in Spanish flair continue for more than a week, passing through the alleys and markets of the city. The costumes of the Spaniards are very different from those we know and used to wear. The inhabitants of Solsona dress in colourful smocks and dance with giant puppets to the rhythmic sounds of Spanish music. But in the streets of the Spanish city, there are also classical costumes to see. Namely when the youngest ones compete in the annual costume contest and present their costumes. However, the absolute highlight is the common banquet. Here, each guest definitely gets one’s money worth.
Nice, France – Côte d’Azur & Flowers
Nice also must be included in the list of carnival hotspots in Europe. The Côte d’Azur is not only internationally known as a holiday resort but also accommodates one of the biggest carnival festivities of the world. Especially its flower parades helped Nice to become internationally famous. During the parade of around 16 floats, a veritable sea of flowers of mimosa, carnations and roses rains down on the spectators. In the evening another highlight awaits: the sea of flowers turns into a sea of lights. The floats enchant the streets of Nice and spread carnival atmosphere until late into the night.
Quebec, Canada – Winter Carnival
From 30 degrees and tropical flair to the icy cold! The carnival in Quebec lasts 17 days and is considered the largest winter carnival in the world. With its magnificent parades, original bands and spectacular competitions such as rubber dinghy riding, canoeing, soapbox racing, or the competition about building a snowman, it has already thrilled many visitors.
Every year, more than one million participants gather for the winter carnival festival, who let themselves be put in the mood by the carnival mascot “Bonhomme Carnaval”. Despite temperatures below zero, the costumes do not differ too much from ours. The cold-resistant inhabitants of Quebec throw themselves into the snow with little or no clothing at all and celebrate and drink copiously.
New Orleans, Lousiana, USA – Mardi Gras
Everyone has probably heard of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, which is one of the biggest carnival parties in the world. Mardi Gras means “Fat Tuesday”, which is why the parade on Carnival-Tuesday is the highlight of the festivities. On Tuesday the decorated floats with traditional jazz music make their way through the crowd of 500,000 spectators who come from all over the world to participate in the spectacle. For 2 weeks the carnival bustle keeps the city in turmoil and immerses New Orleans in the Mardi Gras colours: green for faith, gold for power and strength, and purple for justice.
With this backdrop on your postcard, you are guaranteed to put a smile on the face of your loved ones at home.
The versatility of carnival can be experienced all over the world. In order that your loved ones can also take part in your spectacular carnival experiences, you can simply give them a treat with an individual postcard.
With the help of our postcard app, you can easily send eternal memories from on the road. Select your own photo, write a personal message, choose the recipient & and your card will be on its way to your loved ones.
