Tuesday 5 February 2008

Carnival of Sitges: Rua de Disbauxa


In front of my neighbours, I would say that the carnival of Vilanova is the best in the world. But that of Sitges happens to be world famous and, geographically, we are so close. What good excuses to go there Sunday evening to watch their Rua de la Disbauxa (the Debauchery Parade).

My first impression was that there were less people than I had expected but that was compensated by the huge number of floats. The organisers nowadays put up fences in the streets to separate the audience from the participators. Still I felt to be very close to the action and appreciated the attention which the Sitges carnival groups pay to aesthetics and detail – on the floats as well as in the dresses.

One group portrayed La Rambla (Barcelona) with all its vendors, living statues and drunk football fans, but except for that I did not notice much satire. Since the gay element is often underlined when the carnival of Sitges is described, I was surprised to find a parade dominated by female dancers. So, what about the drag queens? I guess that they came at the end of the parade, when I had already gone home.

Apparently there were technical problems with one of the floats, so during the first hour, the parade did not move much. The organisers could have been faster to solve that. We are in South Europe but a cold wind was blowing from the sea and when you only stand and watch, two hours are a long time. Having said that, this carnival is like a professional show, so I am confident that Tuesday’s Rua d’Extermini (the Closing Parade) will have a better pace.

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