Guys, Sitges Carnival 2023 is on!
Anyone in Barcelona at the moment cannot deny this. Carnival is in the air! Having lived in Barcelona for many years now, I don’t feel it is that much celebrated in the city, unless you have kids, as in other parts of Spain.
And guess what? We are lucky! One of the wildest Carnivals in Europe, Sitges Carnival, is 50 minutes away from the city. It is easily accessible so don’t overthink it and just go!
Sitges Carnival
Sitges Carnival always starts on Fat Thursday and last several days. Sitges Carnival officially begins when the King of Carnival, King Carnestoltes, arrives in town. It officially ends when he leaves on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. This event is your last chance before Lent to give in to all your temptations.
The Carnaval is then celebrated in the town’s streets with parades, parties and many acts and events that make Sitges Carnival one of the best in the world.
Sitges Carnival 2023 program
Sitges Carnival 2023 dates is on from February 16 to February 22.
Carnival highlights
Fat Thursday: 15 February 2023
Fat Thursday opens the festivities with the arrival of King Carnestoltes, the King of the Carnival. This signals the beginning of a week of fun and craziness.
Children’s parade: 19 February 2023
The Children´s parade starts at 12h. The parade has nothing to envy to the adult one with the Children´s floats, costumes, and dancing.
Rua de la Disbauxa (‘The Debauchery Parade’): 19 February 2023
The adult parade starts at 19:30h. Want to know what it is like to experience the Debauchery Parade? Click here to find out about my night experience attending the parade.
The route for both parades is Avenida Sofía, Paseo de la Ribera (seaside) until the El Greco monument and back along Passeig de la Ribera (mountainside), c/ Bassa Rodona and Plaça del Pou Vedre, Espalter, Sant Francesc and Cap de la Vila.
We usually watch it somewhere along the beach as we go for walks on the seaside before the parade. By the way, cover yourself when you go to the parade. It is not warm in Sitges in February.
Festa de la Disbauxa (Debauchery Party): 19 February 2023
Sitges City Council organizes a party in the Sala Tramuntana of the Hotel Meliá, after the Rúa de la Disbauxa from 23h to 5h am. There will be a DJ (Dj Loli Zazou). The party can only host a maximum of 500 people. There will be a bar service and a free shuttle from Joan Maragall street with Rafel Llopart to the Meliá Hotel, from 23h to 5:30h.
Ticket sales: price €10 on the CulturaSitges.cat website.
Place: Sala Tramuntana Hotel Melià Sitges
“Rúa de l’Extermini” or “The Extermination Parade”: 21 February 2023
These are the closing parades. Colorful costumes and upbeat music characterize these parades.
The Children’s parade is at 12h. The adult one is at 21h. This parade often features drag queens dressed in black to mourn the end of the party and the death of the King of the Carnival.
Ash Wednesday – The Burial of the Sardine
This event symbolises the end of the good times and the beginning of a period of abstinence, lent. A large effigy of a sardine is carried to the beach and buried. I have never attended this event but, if I am around, I will definitely go.
Program here.
English program here.
Other posts about Sitges and the Carnival
Experience the Debauchery parade here: Having fun at the Sitges Carnival!
Irish Arts Festival in October: Join an Irish Arts Festival in Sitges this October