Loulé Carnival

We attended our 1st Carnival in Portugal with our good friends Paul & Crystal and Reggie & Lou. We had a great time and it was a cool first experience of Carnival event in Portugal.
Carnaval de Loulé is the oldest continuous pre-Lenten party in Portugal, with 118 years of celebrations. Thousands of revelers jam the streets. Those in costume strut their stuff. Others are there to watch and enjoy. The parades, each afternoon of 11-13 February, are full of floats, samba groups, Brazilian dancers and giant costumed characters, providing a rhythmic beat, lots of laughs and pure enjoyment.
The ambitious theme for 2024 is “Discovering the SDGs,” in other words, embracing the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 agenda. This means being conscious of-in a satirical way-issues such as quality education, climate action, gender equality, and the promotion of peace and justice.
For 2024, the parade will include 14 floats, and 600 entertainers consisting of entertainment troupes, samba schools, giant walking “gigantones” and big head “cabeçudos” parading down the street of Avenida José da Costa Mealha. The festivities run daily from 15:00 to 17:30.
In the characters and floats, expect to see a lot of poking fun at Portuguese politics, such as the fiasco around finding a new location for the Lisbon airport, as well as the increase in interest rates and decrease in available housing. International issues are also on the card for parody; so don’t be surprised if you see a giant Christine Lagarde, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky and Joe Biden.