Ponce Carnival or Carnaval Ponceño will be Feb 21- March 4, 2025
Dates for 2025 Carnaval will be Feb 21- March 4th from the Visit Ponce page! This includes the Carnaval de Vejigantes de la Playa, Feb 21-24!
The Ponce Carnival (Carnaval de Ponce or Carnaval Ponceño, in Spanish) is an annual week-long celebration. There are parades with wildly decorated floats, crazy costumed people, lots of music, loads of spectators, and merriment.
Similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, it is derived from the old world tradition of a final celebration before the beginning of Lent. But over time, it has transformed into a week-long party!
If you want to party Puerto Rican style, mark your calendars — The 167th Ponce Carnival will be Feb 27-March 4!. But don’t miss out on the “pre-Game” carnaval- the Carnaval de Vejigantes de la Playa de Ponce. This event happens the weekend before (so Feb 21-24, 2025).
The biggets and Best Carnaval
The Ponce Carnival is full of loud and colorful parades, with marching bands, with dancers and floats. The parades are similar to those held around the island throughout the year at other town festivals or Carnivals — but on steroids!
Central to the festivities in Ponce are the vejigantes — masked, colorfully-dressed, clown-like characters, wearing paper mâché masks with scary teeth & horns — dancing and strutting to bomba and plena music. They may swat bystanders with soft balloons (supposedly to chase away the evil spirits) as they go by.
2024 Carnaval
This returns the usual Carnaval Events in the Town Plaza, mostly in Front of the Mayors office. Much in the public plaza. And the big Parade, going through town on Sunday. .
. 
There will be lots of bomba and plena music, and many of the interactive, chanting songs. Before and after the parades, there will be other live music at stages throughout the evenings. There is a Usual series of events with the Ponce Carnaval. A mystery “King Momo” is there, who is usually a town celebrity or well known person , the town Princesses and Queens are introduced and crowned, a Dance night, The big Parade and lastly, the Funeral of the Sardine. .
Schedule for the Carnaval de Vejigantes de la Playa de Ponce will be updated when info is available
This “pre-game” carnaval happens the weekend before Carnaval. It is held down toward the Ponce Beach community area- at the Parque Lucy Grillasca. This will introduce you to town Royalty, King Momo, and all the Vejigantes! Parades on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon, with live music every night. Schedule for this event: is on this Facebook page, and it also has the routes of the parades is on this Facebook page
Schedule Ponce Carnaval 2024 (it will be updated when new program is available) – (while the bands and exact times will change from year to year, the events should be similar every year)
- Thursday starting at 6:30pm at town plaza
- Friday , starting at 7pm- (Entrance of King Momo) Stage at town Plaza
- Saturday – (Crowning of the Royalty)
- Sunday Parade Day!
- Monday • Salsa! Stage at town Plaza by Alcaldia and dancing in Plaza Las Delicias
- Tuesday • Burial of the Sardine. Stage At town Plaza/Alcaldia
6:30 p.m. | Grupo Esencia
8:00 p.m. | Baile de Máscaras (dance of the Masks)Festival Nacional del Baile de Máscaras del Carnaval Ponceño, Inc.
6:30 p.m. | Los Pleneros de Ponce
7:00 pm Desfile de Entrada del Rey Momo (Parade of the entrance of King Momo) (Parade starts from Museo Francico “Pancho” Coimbre, down Calle Lolita Tizol, down Calle Isabel, to the stage in front of the Mayor’s building. )
7:30 p.m. | Desfile con los Pleneros del Lago
9:00 p.m. | La Secta
10:30 p.m. | Lími-T 21
3:30 p.m. | Richard Nivar y su Rika Swing
5:00 p.m. | Circo Acirc
6:00 p.m. | Una nota de amor (desfile de moda en el Paseo Amor con la diseñadora Arianes Irizarry Pilarte)
6:30 p.m. | Kevin Gabriel
7:00 p.m. | Desfile de coronación de la Reina del Carnaval-Parade and Crowning of the Queens stage in Plaza by Mayor’s office)
7:30 p.m. | Desfile con Plenero del Lago
11:00 p.m. | Toño Rosario
12:30 a.m. | J-King y Maximan
11:00 a.m. | Desfile de carrozas (Floats in Parade)
12:00 p.m. | Algareplena at Plaza Delicias
12:00 p.m. | Sonido para Junte de Pleneros en calle Montaner
12:30 p.m. | Show del Payaso Flacumbo en el Parque del Tricentenario
1:00 p.m. | Desfile- (PARADE!)
3:30 p.m. | Jorge Brown (calle Isabel en Plaza Ramos Antonini)
10:00 p.m. | Iris Chacón ar Plaza Delicias
11:00 p.m. | Bony Cepedap at Plaza Delicias
7:00 p.m. | Wito Arenas y su Orquesta
8:30 p.m. | Homenaje a Rubén Blades
10:00 p.m. | Norbert con Escuadrón desde la Loma
6:30 p.m. | Plena Libre
6:30-7:00 p.m. | Desfile del entierro de la sardina -Parade of the Sardine Burial- Entierro de la Sardina.. Then the big reveal of who King Momo is!
10:00 p.m. | Jandy Ventura
11:00 p.m. | De La Ghetto
Orquesta Salsa del Sur
Schedule can be found at Visit Ponce’s Facebook event page
You can get more information by calling the Ponce Carnival coordinator at 787-841-8044 ext 2245. Or try the Ponce Cultural Office: 787- 284-4141 ext. 2249.
Assume that the schedule is subject to change with little or no warning. Schedule source:
PuertoRicoDayTrips.com assumes no responsibility regarding your safety when participating in the activities described in this article. Please use common sense! If your mother or that little voice in your head tells you that you are about to do something stupid … then don't do it!
