Carnival in Uruguay you may ask but it does occur and it last longer than its cousin in Rio!
Carnival in Montevideo usually starts in January and proceeds for 40 nights until Shrove Tuesday which in 2023 is the 21st of February. If you can’t stay for the whole forty days, then arrive at least a couple of weeks beforehand to soak up the growing momentum that builds up as mid-summer carries on. Uruguay is Brazil’s little Spanish speaking brother, Montevideo may not have the hill and mounts of Rio but the streets are picturesque and the people are wonderful to be around when summer allows this corner of South America to really strut its stuff.
It’s best to book early as ever as I found out, eventually I found somewhere to stay but was hard to find. Wandering around Montevideo’s port area and around the Centro, Barrio Sur and Palermo neighbourhoods, you’ll always bump into a street party and people practicing for the Carnival whether it be Murga [a kind of theatre], Candombe [a kind of voodoo] or straightforward salsa, reggaeton or pop music!
Uruguay is the best country in the world to simply wander. Montevideo and Punta del Este are safe places even at night and finding yourself in any neighbourhood is fine, but this works if you have an interest in architecture, the Palacio Salvo near the Plaza Independencia is an imposing art deco pile designed by the Italo-Argntine architect Mario Palanti whose greatest offerings are in Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Italy has a huge footprint in Uruguay but you’ll see that their descendants take part heartily in all aspects of carnival and on the 2nd of February they will wade down to Ramírez beach to pay homage to Iemanja a west African Yuroba deity. This is the most fascinating cultural aspect of the country but I think since it’s very Uruguayan it’s considered part of the national consciousness to perform the task regardless of whether your ancestors can from Arica or not.
Carnival itself reaches a crescendo the Thursday night before Shrove Tuesday and along the 18 de Juilo you’ll see processions in a state of constant wax and wane, the main nights are of course Monday and Tuesday nights when revelry continues till dawn and is every bit as colourful as it’s cousin in Rio, it’s also cheaper since you don’t have to enter a sambadrone but arriving early is essential since it’s at least 10 deep along the main drag as people from the provinces and further congregate.
I rounded off my carnival experience tin the following days with excursions to the north to wine country and to see the great emptiness that is Uruguay’s interior given to cattle rearing, agriculture and for me wine growing.