Weekender - The Malaga Carnival

Every year since 1981 the ten days leading up to the start of lent see the streets of Malaga come alive with roving bands of street musicians, dancing, elaborately costumed parades and masked revellers. The tradition of the Malaga carnival is centuries old although it disappeared for more than fifty years under the fascist dictatorship of General Franco. Thankfully it was rekindled, and far from being lost to the world the carnival has become a fantastic time for international visitors to experience Malaga. Although the festivities officially start on the 6^th February 2011), things really heat up for the last two weekends of the event. That makes the 25^th February and 4^th March great times to plan a long weekend in Malaga.

On Friday the 25^th February the grand final of the competition between the various singing groups is held before the selection of the 'God and Goddess' of the carnival on Saturday. The highlight the weekend is the colourful grand parade on Sunday. The holiday atmosphere reaches its pinnacle the following weekend (4^th - 6^th March) when the carnival takes to the different neighbourhoods and you will find murgas(street bands) playing on stages all around town. As with the previous weekend the culmination of the festivities comes on the Sunday, as this year's carnival is closed with the traditional 'Burial of the Sardine' which marks the beginning of Lent. The colourful mourning procession works its way through the town and ends with fireworks on the sea shore.

With average temperatures in Malaga between 8 and 19 degrees, the pleasant spring weather compares very favourably to the weather here in the UK. With the exception of the late night easyJet flight into London Gatwick most flights from Malaga leave during the day on Sunday. Since this is also when most of the action occurs you should think seriously about making this a long weekend and travelling home on the Monday instead. One way prices to Malaga from the UK start at £20.99 with Ryanair, including taxes and online check in fee, but not including baggage and administration fee (incurred by paying with any card other than a prepaid Mastercard.)

easyJet fly to Malaga from London Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Luton, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bristol and Glasgow. Ryanair fly from London Stansted, Manchester, Birmingham, East Midlands, Liverpool, Leeds Bradford, Bristol and Edinburgh. BA fly direct from London Heathrow and Jet2.com fly from Leeds Bradford.