The days of celebration of the most playful festival of the year vary like those of Easter, depending on the lunar calendar. Madrid Carnival 2025 will take place from March 1 to 5.
From Friday to Ash Wednesday, the streets of the capital will be full of traditions: the parade, the manteo del pelele, the murgas and chirigotas and the burial of the sardine that gets us fully into the mood of Easter.
This year’s poster has been designed by the illustrator Abraham Menéndez (Abe The Ape), presents a festive Menina in vintage style that invites you to participate in the celebration. As a special feature this year, most of the events will take place at the Explanada Negra de Madrid Río, instead of at Matadero as in previous years.
The carnival parade
Madrid’s carnival parade will kick off the week-long festivities on March 1. It will feature fantastic and circus creatures, tightrope walkers, giant ladies, swordsmen, stilt walkers, skaters, jugglers, folkloric associations, among others, who will walk through Madrid Rio from the Toledo Bridge.
🗓️Fecha: March 1st, from 1pm to 3pm.
📍Location: Madrid Río
Carnival Concerts
On the same day, a few hours later, Madrid Río’s Explanada Negra will become the epicenter of music and the Madrid Carnival party with a series of concerts that promise to liven up all attendees.
Performing will be Confeti de Odio, the project led by Madrid artist Lucas Vidaur, DJ Brava, who will bring his inexhaustible energy with a session loaded with electronic beats, and, to close the night, Chico Blanco, a DJ and producer from Granada recognized for his ability to fuse genres such as house, urban and modern electronic music, will take the stage.
His musical proposal promises to envelop attendees in a carnival atmosphere that will be the perfect ending to a day full of activities.
🗓️ Date: March 1
📍Location: Explanada Negra de Madrid Río
Free Carnival Workshops
Matadero Madrid will host a wide variety of free workshops geared towards creativity and artistic expression. These activities, curated by La Juan Gallery, are designed primarily for a family and youth audience.
Children will be able to enjoy mask and costume workshops, while adults will have the opportunity to participate in activities such as artistic makeup. In addition, the space will feature giants, big-heads, family gymkhanas, magic shows, circus acrobatics and live music by a brass band.
🗓️ Date: March 1
📍Location: Matadero
Surrealist Carnival at the CBA
The masked ball at the Circulo de Bellas Artes has been bringing glamour to Madrid’s carnival since 1891, when the first one was held. This March 1 , the tradition is recovered under the most dreamlike theme, surrealism, in which the game of identity will be the central theme of the night.
The opening speech will be given by the artist and disseminator PutoMikel and the cultural agitator Paco Clavel, who will bring their irony and provocation to liven up the evening. The music will be curated by El Cuerpo del Disco, with a fun and uncontrolled disco selection that will complement the surreal atmosphere.
The event, which will run from 10:30 pm until 6:00 am, with a ticket price of 45 € (36 € for members).
🗓️ Date: March 1
📍Location: Círculo de Bellas Artes (calle de Alcalá, 42).
Manteo del pelele
The Manteo del Pelele -which is literally throwing a doll into the air- will be held on Carnival Sunday in Madrid Río, to the rhythm of traditional dulzainas and bagpipes usually performed by the Asociación Cultural Arrabel. The public takes part both in the manteo and in simple dances, which will culminate in a big wheel dance.
🗓️ Date: March 2, at 11 a.m.
📍Location: Explanada Negra de Madrid Río
Meeting of Murgas and Chirigotas
Then follows the review of social current affairs, from the humor with their cuplés, pasodobles and popurrís of which the groups of Chirigota de Madrid are in charge.
This event will bring together carnival groups that, with grace and wit, will offer satirical couplets on current social, political and cultural issues. Through these songs full of criticism and laughter, the chirigotas promise to be one of the funniest moments of the carnival.
🗓️ Date: March 2, at 12 noon.
📍Location: Explanada Negra de Madrid Río
Traditional Burial of the Sardine
On March 5, Ash Wednesday, the colorful festivities give way to mourning with the Burial of the Sardine. The usual route of the Alegre Cofradía departs from San Antonio de la Florida, along with the parade of Gigantes y Cabezudos. After crossing the streets of Comandante Fortea, Santa Comba and Doctor Casals, to enter the Casa de Campo, the symbolic burial of the sardine will take place next to the Fuente de los Pajaritos. One of the most picturesque traditions of the capital. The tradition culminates with a bonfire around 9 pm.
This peculiar tradition has been celebrated since the 18th century. It is a way to mock the famine that the people suffered at that time. The scene was portrayed by Goya in his work The Burial of the Sardine (1808-1812), which is part of the collection of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando.
🗓️ Date: March 5, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Carnival plans around Madrid
Municipalities near Madrid will be filled with color and tradition during Carnival 2025. Among the most outstanding plans are the Manteo del Pelele in Alcalá de Henares, a traditional game that revives the scene painted by Goya; the Desfile de Murgas in Getafe, with 4,000 participants showing off their best costumes; and the medieval market in Chinchón, which will transport visitors to the time of Isabel the Catholic with crafts, dances and theatrical performances.
🗓️ Dates: February 28 to March 5