This is our third winter in Mazatlan but the first time we attended the Carnivale Parade. I have read that this is the third largest carnivale parade in the world! This is a huge event plus it is a night parade, our first! Lots of choices in the method of attending from renting a hotel room on the route to just standing on the street watching the parade pass by. We heard that the Hacienda Hotel was selling tickets for 350 pesos ( 27.40 USD ) each, which gives you a chair at float level, access to a 4 hour buffet and all you can drink bar from 3PM to 7PM. That sounded great to us as I was quite concerned about having access to a washroom!! Muy importante!!
So in typical Mexican fashion you go to the Hacienda to purchase your tickets. You get a receipt and instructions to return on the Friday before the event to pick up your entry bracelet. Further instructions include door opening at 12:00 noon to select and save your seat with the buffet starting at 3PM. By the way the actual parade didn’t start till 5:45PM!!!
Colin left here at 10AM and was first in line at 10:30AM. By 11AM there were others behind him, however the hotel had already reserved all but 5 chairs in the front row! Did those folks pay extra??????? Anyway we did get 2 seats front row which you then have to be sure you guard!!! Colin made a deal with people behind him and they took turns coming and going. Our seats were right at the front of the elevated seating area under the word 'Hacienda'. Colin took this shot about 1PM, obviously these chairs had been placed very early on in the morning. People would return later to claim them.
One of the RVers here met their dentista for the parade, she had gone out at 8AM to stake her space and to place a rope all around.
Some of the faces in the crowd…..
Chose a mask...
You can buy anything tonight.....more people are arriving.
Hey....where did this come from? 99% of the photos were taken by Colin. Obviously!!!!
So I finally get there just after 3PM, find mi amore, sit down, get my bearings and get pooped on! Is that good luck, when a pelican lets go all over you?
Was it the margarita I had or is it getting more crowded?
Part of crowd control was some of Mazatlans' finest but why wear a balaclava way up there? As you can see we had white sky, some blue and some sun but when the wind picked up it was a bit chilly. Once the sun set we saw police boats in the water.
SURPRISE!!! Who is that lady in green? Marty, fellow blogger from Montana, who flew in on the 16th and surprised me today. She knew we were going to be here for the parade. Marty and her entourage didn't arrive till 2PM and were seated way back which meant that when the parade started they had to stand to see anything. Only those of us in the front row were able to remain seated. Had we known she was coming Colin would have saved them seats. Sigh! I will see her later in the week. It was too crowded to converse and once the parade started it was a nightmare getting a good line of vision for her group. By the way I took this photo.
I also took this photo of a wee girl sitting on her Dad's shoulders. I bet she wants to be crowned Queen of the parade one day.
There is a pre parade parade! Did you get that? Many of the sponsors do their own floats, great entertainment for the crowds. This began about 5 :15PM or so…..honestly I can’t remember the exact time.
Living on Stone Island we only see the sunset behind the two mountains/hills. Tonight I wanted to catch the sun dipping into the ocean.
Mother Nature gave us a spectacular sunset....however just as that huge ball of fire was about to drop into the water a huge passenger bus, a part of the pre parade stopped directly in front of us!.....Missed the big drop!! I took this photo, Colin doesn't do sunsets!
A shot of the Pacifico float.....
The fellows were very energetic dancers. Photo by mi amore.
I want to apologize to you for the delay in this post. We are having severe internet problems at Tres Amigos RV Park. It took me 6 hours to get this post done!!
Please check back tomorrow for Colins’ wonderful shots of the actual parade floats.
Tags: Carnaval, Carnivale, Mazatlan, Mexico, Stone Island, sunsets, Tres Amigos RV Park
