Venturing Into: Barranquilla Carnaval

The Festival of Culture and Colour

Highlights

- Parade each day was incredible, beautiful, affordable, diverse.

- Street food is cheap and tasty

- From the start the city has a party vibe, afterparties are everywhere, free street parties or paid for events with live entertainment suitable for all budgets 

- All can be done in a shoestring budget last minute however better to buy in advance. 

Lowlights

- Accommodation and tickets sell out early, book well in advance to avoid excessive costs.

Commentary

We went to Barranquilla specifically for Carnaval and left before it was finished due to logistical issues we'd had so we didn't get a chance to really see any other tourist attractions in the city. This is not a review of the city, this is a review of what it's like to attend the Carnaval weekend. Long story short, make sure you do, you won't regret it and you'll never forget it.

We had booked our accomodation (a VRBO home) 3 months in advance all the way back in November and had managed to secure a very good deal during the most expensive time to visit Barranquilla. You can therefore imagine how unhappy we were when the host cancelled the day before we were due to arrive! We had a judgement call to make and as one of my better decisions I decided that to come this close and not experience Carnaval would be ridiculous and any notion we would come back some other time was unrealistic given the city isn't otherwise a tourist hotspot. Much to the chagrin of my penny-Savvy (get it) partner we booked the Hilton hotel for the Friday to the Monday of the festival (only half of the duration we had originally booked with VRBO and not the full length of the festival but believe me when I say 3 nights alone was extortionate). Not staying longer was the first of several key errors we made that weekend but fortunately none proved too costly. 

When researching travel locations and blogs I often get dismayed at the amount of story you have to read in order to get to the juicy bits - the advice, the warnings, the decoder of gobbledygook. So here I'm going to cut straight to the point, if you'd like to read more of our particular experience then further down below you'll find our story but hopefully by reading these tips you'll have a better time making your own.

What's the best way to do it? 

From our experience we would suggest buying a ticket ahead of time online for a Palco (bleachers), attending at minimum saturday-monday. Stay somewhere in the north of the city nor only because it is closer to the parade route and all the key events but much much safer. You could try to smuggle in your own beverages to the Palco but be sly about it - empty a water bottle and fill it with a clear spirit and mixer - student style. But don't be shocked if they don't let you in with it, the bag searches are not thorough but it just takes one guard who takes their job seriously (we're yet to meet one but it's possible). If not, just pre-game a bit beforehand or on your way to the Palco, drinking on the street is very legal at least during the festival. Enjoy the street food but haggle, the vendors will become desperate to shift stock towards the end of the day and later in the week. 

When leaving the parade there will be no end of bars, especially makeshift ones (off licences that set out chairs and tables out front, families who do the same in their front driveway or courtyard selling BBQ food, drinks and the use of their toilets) enjoy them! They are cheap and when we stopped off at one it was the best soup Sav had had in all of Columbia. Be aware the makeshift shop/bars may only have urinals in the main area (in our experience literally next to the front door open to view, girls may need to go round back, just ask). If you don't need to go home before heading out for the evening we would suggest a crawl of these makeshift bars, people watching and listening to the local music (at full volume - if you have sensitive hearing earplugs are an absolute must in Colombia in general but especially this weekend). 

Dance the night away at one of the many many street parties or afterparties. Hostels and hotels will likely have details of the paid ones. We aimed for 'Baile la calle,' one of the official paid-for-entry events but instead enjoyed a huge street party immediately outside the gates of the event totally free, with thousands attending, shops blaring music out and selling cheap booze, street vendors selling drinks and food. There will be many many tourists amongst the locals, you may make friends or choose to avoid the gringos, they will be targets for foam spray or flour bombs - all in good fun and harmless but just FYI.

What about if I'm last minute?

Okay so if plan A above isn't possible you can still absolutely have a great time and it not necessarily cost you an arm and a leg. Tickets for the Palcos sell out early online but are always available on the day from ticket touts. Additionally surrounding the Palcos and running the length of the parade route are gazebos or shelters you can sit in but seating is very limited and will cost you anyway, standing at the back is free but the view is then quite limited. These are a viable option for the Sunday and possibly Monday at a pinch but get there to grab a seat at least two hours before the listed start time. Saturday we wouldn't recommend doing this because the best way to view the floats will be from a Palco as the highlights are normally at the top of the float which is hardly visible from these gazebos. You can buy Palco tickets from street touts for reasonable money, we did so on the Sunday, we were dropped off near via 40 (the parade route) by taxi and we're immediately surrounded by tours desperate for our business. From a starting price of 100k COP each we haggled him down to 70k COP (about £14). We had been told by some Colombians in our hotel to expect to pay around 80k COP each but less with good Spanish so personally I was pleased enough with the price we paid but I'm sure a more competent Spanish speaker and haggler could still do a little better. The Palco seats are very easy to get especially after Sunday but insist the vendor walks with you to the entrance and only hand over the cash over the fence once the ticket check is complete, ours was more than happy to do so. I recommend the Palcos for Saturday most due to the better visibility of the floats themselves and to an extent Sunday too because the choreography of some of the dance troupes is better appreciated from a higher vantage point.

What do these words mean?

Palco = raised bleachers giving an excellent view of the parade with shelter form the sun, portaloos and food & drinks vendors that come to your seat.

Saturday's parade = Batalla de flores. Think Pride parade, lots of colour, lots of large floats sponsored by all manner of companies playing music.

Sunday's parade = Gran parada de tradición. Dance troupes of various traditional forms, indigenous, afro-carribbean and Latin prance down the parade route. Expect amazing choreography and an appreciation of the various sub-cultures that make up modern Colombia.

Monday's parade = Gran parada de comparsas. Possibly more akin to your vision of the Rio Carnaval, expect feathers, feathers, feathers! Stunning outfits of various types in groups, less choreography more colour and splendour.

When should I negotiate/haggle?

For taxis... don't expect to pay less than 5k COP, any less than that isn't worth their time. Taxis to and from the parade or any Carnaval event will carry a premium and an additional premium in the evenings. 15-20 COP is a reasonable price to get around the city to the parade route normally but you may have to settle for more at peak times (just before start and end).

For Palcos... the prices drop day by day and hour by hour on the day, a reasonable amount is apparently around 80k COP at the start of the weekend but Sunday will be less, Monday less still etc.

For food/drink.. street vendors will happily haggle or offer bundle deals the later the day gets as their already cooked stock must go, food that started the day at 5-6k COP will eventually sell for half that. Drinks don't tend to depreciate but 4k COP is an average reasonable price for a can of beer though a little cheaper isn't hard to find.

CARNAVAL AT A GLANCE

Accommodation

The cheaper places sell out early, there is lots of options but the earlier the better, two months ahead is fine to find good deals. Barranquilla is a large city so there will always be somewhere to stay but we wouldn't recommend the south of the city, our bus dropped us off there and it wasn't exactly somewhere we'd feel comfortable walking through safely with all our big bags etc.

Transport

Well connected by local buses, 2 hours away from Santa Marta, buses are regular and cheap however make sure you check which bus station you are going into. There is one in the north of the city conveniently positioned but this is for smaller buses, always check which station you're going to as the other one in Barranquilla is in the south, miles away from the touristy stuff, a little sketchy and we found incredibly difficult to get a taxi from, and an Uber forget it!

Affordability 

More expensive in general than the smaller towns around the north coast but not extortionate, expect to pay more like 40k COP for a meal but cheaper alternatives such as local diners and fast food eateries are cheaper. Accommodation cost is based on how early you book.

Safety

We walked back to our hotel (about a 45 minute walk) twice with no issues whatsoever. During Carnaval the streets are lively with music and food so we would say the northern area of the city is very safe. Police are present here and there but never overbearing and unlike the English it would seem the merriment doesn't get the better of the locals so we saw no issues. It's ultimately a city like any other though so the furthest away from the nicer north areas you go, the more cautious you should be. You can quite literally go down one street and everything changes so be wary the further south you go.

Activities

Yes. Lots. Street parties, live acts, parades, street food, nightclubs, this is party central and can be done as cheap as you want to, entirely possible to spend nothing and have a fantastic time.