Oh, the Carnival - the singing!!

WOW! As if the parade a few days ago wasn't stimulating enough, the lady on reception here told us there's more! So, with a keen appetite, we went into town again with an open mind re what we might find. It was absolutely brilliant and we had a fantastic time! Not back home till well after midnight, so I'm writing this in retrospect to catch up. We have SO many photos and videos, I'll have to post my quota of one video per day for weeks!
What we loved was that all over the streets, there were groups of people singing outside bars and most people were dressed up in way over the top carnival style. Some of the singing was fantastic. They were so passionate and expressive. Every singer was strong and giving it their all. It was all pretty much about carnival and 'amour' (I think). I've never seen so many men and boys comfortable in wigs, lipstick and tutus!
I even got an urge to dance so just went up to a group of women and joined in, then a fully costumed carnival lady came up and danced with me. I loved it! This is very unusual for me, especially sober. People were so welcoming and inclusive and generally pleased if you took a photo, so John was popular with his telephoto lense.
One man cleared people out of the way so that I could get a clear video of some singers. He was very proud to tell me as much as he could about the singing and that when they'd finished, they'd be singing with a group of 50 people.
We waited in a square where something appeared to building up. Eventually that group paraded with a drumbeat lead and we eagerly followed. We were the only ones and they were back streets. They invited us to go in to an indoor singing area with a bar and children singing, then more children singing. Very good and very cute, the youngest being a very accomplished 3 year old, fully engaged, singing the words and stomping her feet in the right places. Amazing! We were about to leave after about 8 songs, when our troupe of singers took to the stage. We were both blown away with the drama and passion of it all. When we left, another group was singing. We wondered whether it went on all night with 50 groups!

We're so glad we didn't come home after our burger at the fair around nine (which is when we'd been told it finished) and went back into the bar areas to see more singers.
What a great evening, and all free!Læs mere