Santo Domingo

The first city in the Americas celebrates the oldest carnival on the continent. Since before 1520, information has been collected to attest to the fact that the religious and social festivities have taken place in this city.



In the barrios of Santo Domingo, February is celebrated in a very special way as the folkloric carnival characters fill the streets wearing the costumes and inviting everyone to join the fun. Typical carnival characters like the Chicken Thief, Rebecca Died on Me, The Stained Ones circulate around town making people laugh.

The social clubs also take advantage of this period to hold remarkably creative shows in which groups of young people compete to be the best troupe with the most original masks and choreography.

The Carnival parade takes place on the last Sunday in February down George Washington Avenue, also known as the Malecón. Starting at 10:00 a.m. in the morning until the evening, carnival floats and troupes, folkloric characters or simply normal people who want to join the fun in their own mask or costume walk the length of the street that runs along the Caribbean coast.

The important commercial businesses and government institutions also participate with floats, all opting for the prizes offered by the Ministry of Tourism, organizer of the activity.