And if your friends are really into the festivities, you might get picked up, carried to a muddy puddle, and dropped in it. When I celebrated Carnaval with my friends and host family, I was lucky enough to get through the weekend without any eggs or muddy puddles!
In Lumbisí, where I’ve been living, there were different events all weekend. On Saturday we watched a parade with dancers, musicians, and people in costumes. The parade ended in the main park where there was food, performances, and the entire town playing Carnaval. On Sunday there were the final games for the area’s soccer championships. My host father, Efrén, coaches one of the teams, and this year, they won the championship for the fifth time in a row! The game ended 1-0 with the only goal scored in the last five minutes, it was very intense. Once the championship games ended, the teams all stayed in the stadium to play Carnaval and some sillier games. For example, teams elected players to compete in a dance off, then all competed in human pyramid contests. My host dad’s team didn’t win any of those, but they were great to watch.
Carnaval is a mix of Indigenous traditions and Catholic ones introduced by the Spanish in the 1500s. The holiday begins the weekend before Lent and lasts through Fat Tuesday. It’s a time to celebrate and indulge before a period of fasting and reflection. Mardi Gras in New Orleans and the masquerade festivals in Venice are two other ways that Catholics celebrate this time. In Ecuador, the Catholic tradition has mixed with older Indigenous celebrations. The Kichwa holiday Paucar Huatay, which marks the end of the solar year, often falls at the same time as Carnaval.
