Each year on the island there are two BIG carnivals and dozens of smaller ones. The two to watch out for are Las Palmas (which lasts three weeks) and Maspalomas (lasting 9 days).

Las Palmas they are still discussing. Tradition would have it start around 16th February but it looks very likely it will start 27th January, almost two weeks early. It would then finish around 19th February. What has been decided is the theme next year is "comic heroes". Expect to see lots of hunky guys in tights!

Maspalomas is the other way round, dates are decided but the theme not. It will start 25th February and finish the 4th March. The last Thursday is the Drag Queen competition which is one of the biggest nights. On the Friday there's a big street party all night and on the Saturday a HUGE street party all night long, expect tens of thousands for each of those events.

As soon as I know more about the theme for Maspalomas or the dates for Las Palmas, I'll update. You can also check Las Palmas

Offical WebSite
Official Facebook page

New dates have been announced for the carnival in the north, Las Palmas for 2012 which will now be held from 3rd - 21st February.

The big night is the Drag Queen competition. Tickets for the Drag queen can be bought by phone on +34 902 405 504 or on the internet at from la caja de canarias or www.cajatique.com though not until a couple of weeks before the event which will probably take place around 10th February.

As soon as the daily events/competitions are announced we´ll post them here.

So the various events are finalised and they are:

FEBRUARY
3 - Carnival Queen
4 - Kids "Comparsas"
5 - Dog carnival by day and Granny Carnival Queen by night
6 - Murgas round 1
7 - Murgas round 2
8 - Murgas round 3
9 - Adults Carnival costume competition
10 - Adult Comparsas
11 - Murgas - The Final
12 - Kids carnival costume competition & kiddy carnival Queen
13 - Social integration gala
14 - Drag Queen pre-selection
15 - Body painting competition
16 - DAY OFF (nothing)
17 - Drag Queen competition
18 - BIG PARADE
19 - Kids Murgas
20 - (night) - Big Carnival Show
21 - Funeral/burial of the sardine

The organisers of Las Palmas' carnival have officially released the calendar of events for the three week carnival in the capital.

Nice and simple, gives a glimpse of what to expect both visually and in detail along with where to go to catch each of the events.

www.lpacarnaval.com/events?locale=en

The promotional video made by the organizers for this year's carnival

And the winner is .....

Only day 1 and Carnival Las Palmas already has a carnival queen