From 26 January to 11 February, the 2024 Carnival will kick off with an incredible programme of events.

The Councillor for Festivals, Rosario Martínez Chazarra, accompanied by the President of the Torrevieja Carnival Association, Paco Pizana, and the Vice-President, César Berná, presented the programme for the 2024 Torrevieja Carnival at a press conference. A programme packed with events, activities, music and colour, structured to be more appealing to tourists, with events concentrated at weekends, so that interested visitors can come and experience one of the most fascinating regional festivals in our municipality.

In addition, the Councillor's office for Festivities has made online and offline advertising investments to publicise our municipality's Carnival in different autonomous communities: Alicante, Valencia, the provinces of Murcia, Albacete and Madrid. Audience segmentation has focused on people interested in: festivals, events, concerts, culture, leisure, fun and entertainment within the
social concept and carnivals, who are able to travel to our town.

PROGRAMME:
Friday 26 January
The starting signal for the festivities will be given next Friday, 26 January, at the Torrevieja Municipal Theatre, with the proclamation by the famous actress and presenter Sara Escudero. She is known for co-presenting and collaborating on countless national television programmes, such as Zapeando, El Club de la Comedia and El Intermedio, and films such as “Padre no hay más que uno” and “Actos por
partes”. At this event, the summary documentary of the last edition of the Torrevieja carnival will be premiered, in which comparsas and participants can be a living part of this great festival.

Saturday 27 January
The next day, Saturday 27 January, at the Municipal Theatre and, for the first time in the history of the Carnival, there will be a double session. At 18:00 and 21:00, the Coronation of the Carnival Kings will take place. This year the junior crown is held by the young Irene del Monte, the second Carnival King Damián Bear and our Senior Queen, Eva Viuda, will present their spectacular fantasies prepared to dazzle during this carnival. In addition, the Golden Shield of the Carnival will be awarded to Mª Teresa Moreno, “Mari Tere la del Tiburón”, a historic comparsa member and participant in numerous editions of the Torrevieja carnival.

Sunday 28 January
On Sunday 28 January, the Carnival moves to La Mata (Plaza Encarnación Puchol) to hold the 2nd Carnival Paella Competition.
At 12:00 the 3rd edition of the Animal Carnival will take place, where animal protection associations and shelters will have their space to promote animal adoption. The day will be completed with a giant paella, entertainment for the little ones, musical performances and a prize draw.

Friday 2 February
The second weekend begins on Friday 2 February with the 5th Quedada Carnavalera (Carnival Meet-up), where the carnival will go out on a street parade announcing that it is ready for its great parade.

Saturday 3 February
On Saturday 3 February, the Torrevieja International Auditorium will open its doors to the 15th Drag Queen Gala “Ciudad de Torrevieja”, where drags from all over Spain will perform their best show to a devoted audience, with the aim of winning the crown of Drag Queen 2024. This year, this fantastic gala, one of the most important in Spain, will once again be directed and presented by “La Plexy”, official presenter of
Madrid Pride, and will feature several top-level surprise guest artists and a jury made up of industry professionals and a celebrity, who will surprise the audience. This year too, the Torrevieja Carnival Cultural Association has increased the prizes for the winners.

Tickets will be available from Friday 12 January via the Cultura Torrevieja website (www.culturatorrevieja.com) and at the municipal ticket office, priced at €10.

Sunday 4 February
And with the Drag Queen hangover, the city will put on those costumes and fantasies that they have been working on with enthusiasm for a year, to fill the city's main artery in a tide of light, colour, rhinestones, feathers and, above all, a great deal of rhythm. It will be on Sunday 4 February, when thousands of carnival participants will parade in the Grand Carnival Competition Parade. From 16:00, from the Virgen del Carmen Cultural Centre, the tide formed by the 30 comparsas of the Torrevieja carnival will start this parade to the
rhythm of choreographies. As has been the case in recent editions, the spectacular “Exhibition Area” will crown this magnificent parade, with the staging of each of the fantasies and costumes. A jury of 7 members, professionals and lovers of the world of carnival, sewing and make-up, will be responsible for assessing and deciding on the awarding of the prizes.

Thursday 8 February
The following week begins on Wednesday and Thursday, with several comparsas performing shows and dances in several schools in our municipality. That same Thursday, 8 February, the traditional Senior Citizens' Carnival will be held at the Municipal Leisure Centre (CMO), where our elders will dance in their best costumes, closing the event with the awarding of the prize for the best costume.

Friday 9 February
On Friday 9 February, the city will take to the streets again, this time with the little ones filling Calle Ramón Gallud with their costumes. The “Carnaval de los Coles” (Schools' Carnival) is once again the moment when the entire school community of the city parades, showing off the outfits and costumes they have made themselves in their schools. This fun parade will begin at 17:00,
from the Virgen del Carmen Cultural Centre, ending at the Paseo Vista Alegre, where there will be entertainment, dancing and hot chocolate for the enjoyment of the little ones.

And as a great novelty for 2024, for the first time in the history of the Torrevieja carnival, from 20:30, Calle Ramón Gallud will again host the 1st Visiting Comparsas Competition Parade of the Torrevieja Carnival. Numerous comparsas from different cities will shine for the first time in a parade of their own, with their own sound, and will enjoy the warmth of the Torrevieja public. For this historic occasion,
the first two prizes will be decided by the traditional jury made up of Golden Shield holders of the Carnival and, also as a novelty, the third prize will be decided by the Torrevieja comparsas with their votes. Prizes will be presented at the Paseo Vista Alegre with music and fun.

Saturday 10 February
On Saturday 10 February, the “Grand Night Parade” will be held from 20:00 along Calle Ramón Gallud, setting off from the Virgen del Carmen Cultural Centre. With a more informal, fun and festive atmosphere, comparsas that did not take part in the competition parade will add magic to this spectacular and entertaining parade. It will end on the Paseo Vista Alegre stage, where the rhythm of the best local DJs will give way to the long-awaited prize-giving, ending with a surprise performance.

Sunday 11 February
The finale of the festivities will be the “National Comparsas and Chirigotas Competition” on Sunday 11 February at the Municipal Theatre at 18:00. Although that same morning, the charangas will take to the streets of the centre again in the 3rd edition of the CarnaBares.

The events will be free with an invitation, which can be collected at the Torrevieja Municipal Theatre box office from Tuesday 16 January.
The Drag Queen Gala will have a single price of €10 and can also be bought at the box office or through the website: www.culturatorrevieja.com

Finally, among the activities that will take place over these days, the Torrevieja Carnival Cultural Association, in collaboration with the Municipal School of Photography, at its proposal and with the support of the “Joaquín Chapaprieta” Municipal Institute of Culture, will produce a photographic magazine with images of the different comparsas, groups and individuals that make up the Torrevieja Carnival, photographs that will be
shown later in a fantastic exhibition.