Five Feet, Nine Inches Above Ground

The Algarve is celebrating Carnaval. In Loulé, the festivities began on Sunday February 19 and continue until the end of the following Tuesday, or Mardis Gras. Having never experienced this event up close and personal, it was suggested by my friends that I go to Loulé. They were going to another town and a somewhat smaller event. So, I went, sans Jackson and I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. It was cool, cloudy, with sunny periods and I was glad not to be one of the scantily clad members of the parade. It was a lot of fun!

I arrived about 45 minutes before the parade began so had time to photograph the floats above. The theme ““Oh Zé… Have you seen Algarvensis?” is a bit of a puzzler but it refers to an extinct amphibian that lived in the Penina Geosite in Algarve approximately 227 million years ago. Also, the Loulé Carnaval is 117 years old and going strong! The floats reflect the theme and there’s also some political satire portrayed.

The entire parade took about two hours to complete the circuit and it proved highly entertaining for everyone and spectators were encouraged to join in at certain points. There were paper streamers and confetti everywhere and some of it came home with me. What a great day!