Carnival of San Sebastián de La Gomera: talcum, indigo blue powder and a herring beside the sardine
Monday, eight in the evening, San Sebastián de La Gomera, the corner of Calle Real and Calle El Tanquito. From here the procession sets off towards the Plaza de La Constitución, to the music of the Parranda Chigadá. This is the Día de los Polvos de Talco y Añil, the day of talcum powder and añil, indigo blue powder. Afterwards the powder dance, the Baile de los Polvos, begins on the Plaza de Las Américas.
On La Palma, the talcum powder of Los Indianos day is white. Here blue joins it, and according to the local press the very aim of the day is to rescue and strengthen the "historical character" of the powder and the añil.
When it usually happens: honestly, there's no fixed pattern
Most Canary carnivals stand in some fixed relationship to Ash Wednesday. San Sebastián doesn't, and it's better to know that in advance:
In 2024 both the big parade (Saturday 10 February) and the talcum day (Monday 12 February) came before Ash Wednesday (14 February). The carnival ran from 2 to 17 February.
In 2025 everything came after Ash Wednesday (5 March): the parade on 8 March, the talcum day on the 10th, the burial of the sardine on the 14th. The carnival ran from 25 February to 16 March.
In 2026 it was also after: Ash Wednesday fell on 18 February, the parade on the 21st, the talcum day on the 23rd, the burial of the sardine on the 27th. The carnival ran from 16 to 28 February.
The order of the days, though, was the same in all three years: the big parade on Saturday, the talcum day on the following Monday, and the Piñata at the end. The length varies too, roughly between two and three weeks.
The town hall usually publishes the programme only a few weeks beforehand: on 1 February in 2024, on 13 February in 2025, on 27 January in 2026. As soon as it's out, we add it to our agenda.
The 2027 carnival is already in the town hall's plans: the deadline for applying for vending permits for the 2027 carnival is 14 January. There's no date yet, though. The island's tourism website says February 2027, without a day. That year Ash Wednesday is 10 February.
What happens on the carnival days
Based on the 2026 programme:
The opening gala, with the opening speech (pregón) and the presentation of the Queen candidates. In 2026 it was at the Audillón Municipal, in 2025 under the arcade of the town hall.
The Queen galas: besides the adult Queen, a separate Queen of the older generation (Reina de los Mayores) is elected here too, and there's a children's gala. In 2026 all of them were at the Audillón Municipal.
On Saturday, the Gran Coso del Carnaval, at half past five in the afternoon from the Zona Escolar y Deportiva. According to the 2025 programme, it goes through the main streets of the historic centre. Afterwards, a dance on the Plaza de Las Américas.
On Sunday, the island festival of carnival groups (agrupaciones), the Festival Insular de las Agrupaciones, on the Plaza de Las Américas.
On Monday, the day of talcum and indigo blue powder.
On Tuesday, the drag queen gala, also on the Plaza de Las Américas.
On Friday, at eight in the evening, the burial of the sardine and the herring (Entierro de la Sardina y el Arenque) in the bay, followed by a music festival.
On Saturday, the closing Coso de Piñata, at half past eleven in the morning, from the Barriada de San Sebastián to the Plaza de Las Américas.
The Plaza de Las Américas
If you remember just one place, make it this one. In the town hall's words, the square is the "nerve centre" of the capital's carnival: the main dances, the agrupaciones festival and the drag gala are held here, and the Piñata ends here too.
The residents choose the theme
The carnival gets a theme every year. In recent years the residents have chosen it from three proposals, voting in person and on social media, while the previous carnival was still on. In 2024 it was the jungle (La Selva), in 2025 music, in 2026 film: "Carnaval de Cine" beat two other proposals, ancient civilisations and fairy tales.
Since 2024 the programme and the theme proposals have also been shaped by a so-called Grupo Motor del Carnaval. The town hall set it up for public participation, and its members are carnival associations, groups, carnival characters and council representatives. We found no official announcement of the 2027 theme.
Practical information
The official website is sansebastiangomera.org. The address ending in .es only redirects here. Look for the programme here.
The venues can change. The opening gala was still under the town hall arcade in 2025, and at the Audillón Municipal in 2026. Check the current one in the programme.
A tip from us, not from the town: for the talcum day, wear clothes you don't mind ruining.
If you'd like to explore the island as well as the carnival: What to See in La Gomera: The Essential Sights. If you're curious about La Palma's version of the talcum carnival too: Carnival of Santa Cruz de La Palma and Los Indianos: white clothes, talcum powder and a day in Havana. And you'll find the calendar of every Canary carnival here: Carnival in the Canary Islands: where, when, and which one to choose.
Cover photo: San Sebastián de La Gomera and its harbour, with Teide behind (not a carnival photo), 2017, Bengt Nyman from Vaxholm, Sweden, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sources: San Sebastián de La Gomera town hall, the 2026 programme · The 2025 programme · Gomeranoticias, the 2024 programme · RTVC, the 2024 dates · El Tambor on the talcum day