Carnival of Tolosa, a Basque Popular Festival

The Carnival of Tolosa is one of the most widely attended carnivals in the Basque Country, with a strongly popular character and deep local roots. During carnival days, the centre of Tolosa becomes the setting for a celebration that gathers many of the defining elements of Basque festivals: cuadrillas, tamborradas, charangas, vaquillas, gastronomy and parades.

Costumes are worn on the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of carnival; Friday and Saturday are not costume days. One of the distinctive features of the festival is its relaxed approach to dressing up: no elaborate costume is needed — anything at hand, at home or in a suitcase, can be turned into a disguise.

For those travelling through Euskadi in winter, the Carnival of Tolosa is a concrete opportunity to experience a celebration that draws on the full range of Basque festive traditions, in a historic town in Gipuzkoa with a long carnival heritage.