Carnival 2020: celebrating the world upside down

Carnival 2020 gets ready for another leap into a transgressive world where anything goes, amid the din of floats, troupes and celebration.

The carnival is one of Mexico’s most important events and one of the most celebrated Yucatecan traditions. We can’t overlook the floats, Carnival Tuesday when the city vibrates with music and troupes, or the ash-marked foreheads on Ash Wednesday, the sacred Lent, Palm Sunday…

Life in Mérida is marked by keeping its traditions, and one of them is the carnival. Once aristocratic, this celebration has changed until it became a popular festival.

Origin and history of a collective celebration

The origin of carnival dates back to the Middle Ages: “Comedy and carnival share an atmosphere of permissiveness, crossed by the same keys: a world turned upside down, where the inconvenient prescriptions of morality and decency are broken.”

In Mérida, however, the festival goes back to the 19th century. Around then, an important group of dominant intellectuals promoted this celebration of joy, which at the time brought together literature, music and poetry.

At the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century, when the city gloriously reflected the boom of henequen wealth, there were several carnival festivals in Mérida. Besides dance routines, some events decorated carriages and held parades through the city streets. In that context, the most important social groups, such as La Unión y Paz or El Liceo, began to elect their own queens.

The glory of the Paseo de Montejo and the move to Xmatkuil

Over the years, the carnival has kept changing. In the 1930s, choreographic societies were added. In the 1960s it gained more interest as a tourist event, and the Paseo de Montejo became more relevant — the start of the famous troupes with their dances and costumes.

Later, Mérida’s carnival became a classic of the region and the country. But it had to move from the Paseo de Montejo streets to the Xmatkuil fairground, which now gathers all the events. People can stay as long as they like, get a front-row seat for the parade of floats and troupes; there are public toilets, stages and food stalls.

Mérida Carnival 2020

This year’s celebration promises a lot. It will take place from 19 to 26 February with the theme “Of Stories and Comics”, aiming to foster reading and imagination. Costumes, troupes, floats and shows will be inspired by different literary genres.

Among the Yucatecan traditions of Carnival 2020 are the troupes; the crowning of the Carnival Kings, which also includes children’s, youth and senior royalty; the increasingly creative float attractions; the burning of bad humour; the parades throughout the day; and the burial of Juan Carnaval.

In recent years, a batucada and Cosplay contest has been added, held at the Miguel Alemán neighbourhood park.

The presentation of the children’s and youth royalty will have a highlight: the musical show “Mowgli, the jungle boy”.

Music to dance to and 4 themed areas to party

For music, Carnival 2020 will feature Chayanne and Banda El Recodo at the Centro de Espectáculos Montejo. Grupo Cañaveral, La Trakalosa, Moderatto and El Gran Silencio will also take part. The parades will feature artists such as Polo Morín, Lorena Herrera, Yahir and Maribel Guardia, among others.

This 2020 also opens a new attraction, Ciudad Carnaval, with four themed zones: Land of Merriment, Land of Fantasy, Land of the Party and the Route of Fun. There will be areas for families, funfair rides, inflatables, shows and places to eat. Don’t miss Carnival 2020 in the City of Peace!

We know what you’re looking for. Read: 6 places in Mérida to enjoy the nightlife.