Photo credit: Miguel Ángel Bustos, director of the radio program “la Mesa de las Fiestas”.
Originally published in Spanish by Valencia Bonita. Translated and republished with permission.
Great carnival in Ruzafa with a parade with thousands of people and carnival market.
- On Saturday, February 18, 2023 will be held the great carnival parade through the neighborhood of Ruzafa (city of Valencia) from 17:00 to 22:00 hours with the participation of 50 groups, including batucadas, neighborhood associations, social movements and representations of different countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The route will be as follows: Granero Park exit, continuing along Calle Filipinas, Pintor Gisbert, Cuba, Sueca, Literato Azorín, Cuba y Parque Granero.
- The same weekend, Saturday 18 and Sunday 19, there will be a carnival market in which there will be music, dance, singer-songwriters, gastronomy, clowns, poets, crafts, associations and many activities.
Valencia, Monday, February 13, 2023. Valencia hosts the XII Edition of the Russafa Cultura Viva Carnival with its multiple activities and parades, where the main activities will take place on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 (carnival market and carnival parades). It is organized by Jarit-AIAD in collaboration with other neighborhood associations: Plataforma per Russafa, Valencia Saludable, AFA-Alexandra Soler, AMPA Ceip J. Balmes, Joves Per Russafa, AFA Patufet, ADSIS and IES San Vicent Ferrer.
The carnival of Valencia, which is celebrated from February 11 to 25, began with the opening speech by Rosana Pastor (actress, film director and Goya Award) on Saturday February 11 at 17:00 pm with a subsequent departure at 18:00 pm by 4 different routes commemorating the old entrance to Russafa.
On Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 February, from 12.00h to 23.00h in the Granary Park, there will be the Carnestoltes Market where there will be music, dance, singer-songwriters, gastronomy, clowns, poets, crafts, associations and many activities. You can not miss it.
Finally, the big day will be Saturday 18, a day in which there will be a parade through the neighborhood of Ruzafa from 17.00 to 22.00 hours with the participation of 50 groups, including batucadas, neighborhood associations, social movements and representations of different countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The route will be as follows: Granero Park exit, continuing along Calle Filipinas, Pintor Gisbert, Cuba, Sueca, Literato Azorín, Cuba y Parque Granero.
ABOUT THE CARNIVAL OF RUZAFA:
The aim is to create a space for dialogue and coexistence to make known to the citizenship the cultural richness of this unique and genuine neighborhood, a meeting point for intercultural processes, social activism and artistic creation.
The new edition aims to return to the origins and recover the historical memory of the Carnival of Valencia in the nineteenth century-early twentieth century, when the city was the scene of a great party orchestrated by irreverence, satire and blasphemy. King Alfonso XIII banned the celebration within the walls, so people who wanted to celebrate this date moved to Russafa, an independent municipality outside the city walls. But little by little the Carnival was resurging. “Carnival does not die, but transforms! It does not live from its glorious past, it lives because it responds to an expansive need of the soul. Carnival is the valve of the social boiler.” (Las Provincias, February 12, 1893).
The organizing entities communicate that the Ruzafa Carnival 2023 would not be possible without the contribution of the carnival tradition of the migrant collective of the Latin communities (Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador…). During these twelve years they have given unconditional support to this Carnival, enriching it with the dazzling costumes and dances such as the morenada, tinkus, salay, caporales, chacarera, llamerada and etc…
From the Russafa Carnival 2023 initiative, sociocultural projects such as “Fem comerç” “A les Balconades!” and “Fem finca, fem barri i fem comunitat” emerged, which revolve around two strategic lines: interculturality and community development of the neighborhood.
This year the theme of the Carnival is “Climate emergency and against wars”. In this theme is located the artistic intervention of Las Balconadas focused on the campaign “For prudence, let’s stop the PAI”. It refers to the PAI (integrated action plan) of Russafa located in front of the Al Russafi Municipal Library, where an investment fund intends to build towers without taking into account the opinion of the neighborhood associations that propose for this space a green area, so necessary for Russafa. In addition, the neighborhood associations claim “El Muelle 4 Comunitario” as a self-managed civic center.
