Feb 11, 2018
It’s Carnaval time in Mazatlan
Carnaval started this past Thursday, the 8th. So we figured that Friday would be a good night to head out and check out the Plazuela Machado and see what was happening.
Friday was a good day just enjoying the first blue sky hot day we have had in a long while. The weather has been good but not great as is normal for this time of year.
There is a three block corridor of vendors one has to walk thru to get to the square.
It was actually rather quiet which surprised us. Mostly non Mexicans except for these fellows setting up a photo op location. The lady under the big black hat is a tourist. I have no idea how much her husband paid to take the photo.
We ate at La Bohemia as they have a great menu and a generous wine pour. We took our time and ordered one course at a time as we were not in a rush. About 9PM faces started to change and we were now seeing mostly Mexicans. Most Americans and Canadians eat early ( and go to be early )! It wasn’t long before the tables around us filled and the Plazuela became increasingly crowded.
Just as we were finishing our meal Sofia ( my wonderful masseuse ), her boyfriend Brad and his best friend since grade two, Paul ( from Denver ) joined us.
Lots of laughs and some conversation as the music allowed. Photo courtesy of Paul’s smart phone.
Masks borrowed from Sofia. She is totally prepared for Carnaval and carries a lot of stuff in her bag 🙂
The main band in the kiosk was of course a banda group and they were loud. It wasn’t long before other banda groups showed up. These guys were just two feet away from our table.
Then there were more and more banda bands around us, actually around the entire Plazuela. They are all playing at the same time but mostly different songs. I did this brief clip so you could hear what it was like. There are at least two different bands playing in this one minute video.
In fact the noise level was rising to the point that you wanted to cover your ears. It was time to move on and as I stood I looked over the area and noted the large number of banda bands everywhere. I said to Colin that we should go for walk around the Plazuela and count the groups. It was easier to count the number of tubas as they stood out. I counted 25 different banda bands pretty much all playing at the same time. The noise was almost deafening. Talk about energy.
There were a few vendors from Columbia set up in front of the Indian restaurant With some very different items.
I purchased a lovely gold plated ( nickel free ) bracelet. The piece is a reproduction of the original developed by pre-columbian cultures that inhabited Columbian territory between 800BC and 1600AD.
We got home on the stroke of midnight. Certainly a fun filled Carnaval evening.
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We enjoyed our time there for carnival great memories, looks like you had a great time.
Sounds like a great time!