Carnival 2027: Shrove Tuesday lands on 9 February, and it is already time to book

Carnival has no fixed date: you count back from Easter. In 2027 Easter Sunday is 28 March, so Ash Wednesday falls on 10 February and Shrove Tuesday on 9 February. It is an early carnival, and that matters: book sooner, and expect Lanzarote to do what it always does — spread the party over six weeks instead of packing it into one.

9 February is a holiday. But not everywhere

Carnival Tuesday 2027 is a local public holiday in Arrecife, San Bartolomé, Tías, Tinajo and Haría. In Teguise and Yaiza it is a working day: both councils spent their two local holidays elsewhere — Teguise on the Carmen and the Nieves, Yaiza on San Marcial and the Virgen de los Remedios. If you have children at school or a business to open, it is worth knowing now.

The dates already set

• Puerto del Carmen (Tías) — 11 to 14 February 2027, Thursday to Sunday.
• Costa Teguise and Villa de Teguise — 15 to 21 February 2027, a full week.
• La Graciosa — 4 to 7 March 2027, closing the season as it almost always does.

Still missing: Arrecife, Playa Blanca, Haría, San Bartolomé and Tinajo. As of today none of the five has published a 2027 calendar. Nowhere on the island are there dates yet for the queen galas, the drag gala or the Entierro de la Sardina.

The themes: Arabian nights in Arrecife, the circus in Puerto del Carmen

The alegoría — the thread that ties together posters, costumes, floats and street decoration — was chosen in Arrecife by the residents themselves. «Las mil y una noches» won with 32.06% of the vote, ahead of «Carnaval marinero» (23.21%) and four other entries, including an «Atlántida Steampunk» that stalled at 10.53%. The council had gathered eight ideas from the carnival groups and put six to the vote, dropping two for being too close to themes already used. Expect lamps, genies, sultans, dancers, flying carpets and a great deal of gold.

In Puerto del Carmen the decision came from the festivals department: «La magia del circo».

In Teguise residents voted from 21 September to 2 October on four proposals — «Tropicalia, sabor a Carnaval», «Latidos de África», «Steampunk, la fábrica del tiempo» and «Un Carnaval de locura, Teguise en el País de las Maravillas». The result has not been announced yet: it is the next piece of news due.

The oldest thing on the island: the Diabletes

If you only see one part of Lanzarote's carnival, see this one. The Carnaval Tradicional de Teguise is the oldest masquerade in the Canaries, declared a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional. The Diabletes are documented in the island's carnivals from at least the seventeenth century, with roots in the rituals of the Majos tied to the farming year and to fertility: a horned mask, a white suit patterned with black and red diamonds, cowbells strapped across the back. This is not postcard folklore. It is serious, loud and faintly unsettling. The 2027 date is not out, but it falls inside the week of 15 to 21 February.

One clarification, so you do not book the wrong flight

Los Indianos is not ours: it belongs to Santa Cruz de La Palma, where on Carnival Monday the city dresses in white and buries itself in talcum powder. In 2027 that is Monday 8 February. If you want it, it has to be fitted in before our own Tuesday.

What to do now

Two things. First: if you are coming from abroad, flights and beds for 11–21 February go far earlier than people expect, and this year carnival arrives three weeks sooner than in 2026. Second: if you want to parade, the groups open registration between November and December, and latecomers watch from the pavement. The moment the missing dates appear, they will be here.