Tolosa Carnival 2027: the six-day programme

The carnival that disguised itself as something else

Carnival was banned in Spain under the dictatorship: a 1937 order, reaffirmed in 1940, kept it outlawed for forty years. Tolosa did not stop. The town went on celebrating it under another name, the Spring Festival, and according to the local tourist office these were the only popular carnivals tolerated in the southern Basque Country during that period. Some say the people of Tolosa got so good at disguises precisely because they spent forty years covering their tracks.

That is what makes Tolosa's Inauteriak something other than a carnival of parades and floats: you do not come here to watch, you come in costume.

The 2027 dates

Carnival moves with Easter. In 2027 Ash Wednesday falls on 10 February, so Tolosa's six days run from Thursday 4 to Tuesday 9 February 2027.

Each day has its own name and character:

Day	Name	What happens
Thu 4	Ostegun Gizen (Fat Thursday)	The start: txistularis, opening speech and chupinazo
Fri 5	Ostiral Mehe (Lean Friday)	Residents' show at the Leidor theatre
Sat 6	Zaldunita bezpera	Parade of the tamborradas, adult and children's
Sun 7	Piñata Igandea	Pyjama day; floats and comparsas
Mon 8	Astelehena	Floats and comparsas continue
Tue 9	Astearte Kozkor	Toro del Aguardiente at dawn; at midnight, the burial of the sardine

The moments not to miss

• The Fat Thursday chupinazo. The morning opens with a kalejira of txistularis at around 11am, then the proclamation and the rocket in the Plaza Zaharra at about 11.45am. In the afternoon, brass bands, heifers and a tamborrada.
• Saturday's tamborradas. The adults' and the children's, through the old town.
• Pyjama Day (Sunday). Literally: the town comes out into the street in pyjamas. It is the best image of the carnival and the one that most baffles first-timers.
• Tuesday's Toro del Aguardiente, at eight in the morning, for those still standing.
• The burial of the sardine, at midnight on Tuesday, closing the six days.

These are the patterns of recent editions. Tolosa town council publishes the official programme a few weeks beforehand, and the timings shift slightly from year to year.

Advice if you are not from Tolosa

• Come in costume. It is not optional in any social sense. Without one you will feel like the only person who did not get the message.
• Do not bring a car. Tolosa is a compact historic centre about 25 kilometres from San Sebastián, and during carnival the centre is unworkable. The train is the sensible option.
• Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days. If you want the most authentic and least crowded carnival, Thursday morning and Tuesday are your days.
• Bring some cash and shoes you are willing to ruin.
• With children, Sunday and Saturday's children's tamborrada are what you want.

Other carnivals nearby

If Tolosa is too far, on those same days there are carnivals with real character in Mundaka, Zalduondo and Markina, besides those of Bilbao, San Sebastián and Vitoria. As soon as our sources publish the programmes, the events will appear at the top.