Carnestoltes

Catalonia’s pre-Lenten Carnival mixes costume parades, sharp satire, Dijous Gras food and the mock funeral of excess.

Carnival season with street parades, costumes, satire and feast days such as Dijous Gras.

Practice Add to my calendar

Opens Feb 4, closes Feb 5 · 48 hours

what Carnestoltes is

Carnestoltes is the Catalan Carnival period immediately before Lent. It begins with the Arribo, usually on the Thursday or Friday before Ash Wednesday, when King Carnestoltes enters town and a mock proclamation opens several days of deliberate disorder. In many Catalan towns people put on disguises for rua street parades, masked dances and school costume processions. Satire is central: local groups build floats and write speeches that mock politicians, football clubs, rising prices or town scandals. The season reaches a high point on Dijous Gras, "Fat Thursday", when families, schools and workmates gather for a special snack or meal before the fasting and abstinence associated with Lent.

Typical Dijous Gras foods in Catalonia are botifarra d'ou, truita and coca de llardons, and bakeries advertise them especially for these dates. Some places have very distinctive celebrations: Sitges is known for large seaside parades, Vilanova i la Geltrú for Les Comparses, where participants throw sweets, and Solsona for its giants and the hanging donkey figure. After the weekend comes Dimecres de Cendra, Ash Wednesday. Many towns stage the funeral of King Carnestoltes or the Burial of the Sardine, with mourners dressed in black, a comic reading of his testament and the symbolic burning of the figure. The mood shifts from noisy excess to comic mourning as Lent begins.

what you'll learn5 domains

The pack has 36 words spread across these domains.

Useful wishesPhrases for greeting people during Carnestoltes and wishing them a happy Dijous Gras.

Key momentsWords for the Arribo, the parade, Ash Wednesday and the final funeral of Carnestoltes.

Festival foodNames for botifarra d'ou, truita and coca de llardons, the foods most tied to these dates.

Costumes masksVocabulary for disfresses, masks and accessories worn in school processions and evening rues.

Satire ritualsTerms for the proclamation, comic testament, mock mourning and other ritual jokes of the Carnival season.

the run — three rounds, about three minutes, unlimited practice

Round 1 · MatchPair the word with its meaning. Six pairs, one attempt each.

Round 2 · SpellType the word you hear, accents and all. Beginners see the meaning and complete the word instead.

Round 3 · MeaningSix questions on what happens at Carnestoltes and what it is called.

how scoring works

How you are ranked

1AccuracyEvery correct answer counts the same. Anything you leave unanswered counts as wrong.

2Time, only to break tiesTime is read only when two people have the same accuracy. It never beats a better score.

For example

1100%3:41Marta

2100%4:02Joan — same score, slower

397%2:10Núria — fastest, still third

Two separate boards

BeginnerAdvanced

Same words in both. Beginner gets more help: matching and completing. Advanced listens and spells it out unaided. Pick it in practice; it locks when you take the scored run.

One scored run

Practise as often as you like, all year. The scored run happens once, while the competition is open, and cannot be retaken.