A popular local saying has it that Mazatlán lives from Carnaval to Carnaval. It must be true, since despite turmoil in municipal government involving three changes of mayor in the past three years, each one of them naming a different leader for Codetur (the Carnaval planning committee), the annual party is reportedly rolling blithely along towards its 106th edition, set for Feb.18-24, 2004. Newest Codetur chief, as named by the latest mayor, Ricardo Ramirez, is Monica Coppel Tirado, a travel agency owner with lots of Carnaval experience. She has set the theme of “Glory and Splendor” in reference to the triumph, magic, dreams and glitter that always enliven Mazatlan’s grandest annual fiesta. The theme is inspired by the title of a historical novel by writer Taylor Caldwell, who recreated in her work “Glory and the Lightning” the brilliance that was the Greece of Pericles. Not every detail is nailed into place at this point, of course, but such fixtures as the three major pageants — Juegos Florales or Flower Games, the Queen’s Coronation and the Coronation of the Child Queen — as well as the three dozen parade floats and the comparzas (marching units) will reflect the theme of Ancient Greece in one way or another. You can be certain that one or more of these elements will have to do with the original Olympic Games of ancient times. This is intended as a salute to the modern Olympics, which in the summer of 2004 return to Greece. As veteran Carnaval observers know, a large field of Royal candidates is usually whittled down by a contest to sell raffle tickets on a new car. Each ticket is a vote, and candidates are expected to reach certain sales levels in order to stay in the running. The finalists for Queen of Carnaval — and a chance to go down in Mazatlan history —will be judged in a wild, often

hairy and extremely boisterous competition from which both the Queen of Carnaval and the Queen of the Flower Games will emerge. Here is a provisional calendar of events for now through Carnaval Mazatlan ‘04. If you already have events you favor, you can start making your plans and marking your calendar. If the coming Carnaval is your first, we’ll have more solid explanations as we receive them in the February edition of the Pacific Pearl, including where to buy tickets for performances. PRE-CARNAVAL EVENTS Jan. 9: First computation of votes, 6:00 p.m. Jan. 11:Rally in cities in south of Sinaloa, starting at 10:00 a.m. Jan. 16: Rally in Mazatlan, 4:00 p.m. Jan. 23: Visit to home for the elderly, 4:00 p.m. Jan. 30: Second preliminary computation of votes, 6:00 p.m. Jan. 31: Visit to Ciudad de los Ninos orphanage, 12 noon Feb. 2: Art Exposition, 6:00 p.m. Feb. 5: Final computation of the votes, 6:00 p.m. Feb. 7: Election of Queen of Carnaval, 7:00 p.m. CARNAVAL EVENTS Feb. 18, 6:00pm: Inaugural exhibit of works submitted to the Antonio Lopez Saenz painting competition, Maz-atlán Art Museum Feb. 19, 8:00pm: Coronation of King of Joy 8:00pm: Inauguration of the Olas Altas street dance 10:30pm: Inauguration of food fair Feb. 20, 8:00pm: Coronation pageant for Queen of the Juegos Florales, including presentation of Mazatlan Prize for Literature and the Clemencia Isaura Prize for Poetry Feb. 21, 6:00pm: Coronation pageant for Queen of Carnaval 7:30pm: Parade before the burning of bad humor 9:00pm: Burning of Bad Humor 10:00pm: Ship-to-shore naval battle in fireworks, Olas Altas Feb. 22, 6:00pm: First Car-naval parade along Avenida del Mar Feb. 23, 10:00am: Children’s parade followed by Children’s Ball 6:00pm: Coronation pageant for Child Queen 11:00pm: Election of the International Queen of the Pacific Feb. 24, 4:00pm: Second Carnaval parade along Ave-nida del Mar