Amid a cloud of smoke and a blaze of fire, the lid on Pandora’s box flew open and all the misfortunes of humanity got loose — but a corps of dancers in an underwater fantasy struggled to capture hope and return it safely to its enclosure. This was how Carnaval Mazatlan 2008 and its theme, Legends of Long Ago (based on Greek mythology), was introduced to the audience gathered at the Sanchez Taboada Esplanade on a recent December night. Climax of the program, which ended with fireworks varooming across the night sky, was a parade onstage of the candidates for Carnaval royalty. But in case you’re new around here, let us explain: Carnaval is the biggest, the gaudiest, the loudest, the splashiest, the most fun time of the year in Mazatlan. Everybody gets into the act from kindergarten kids to dating couples to families to the oldest old timers. The tradition goes back to the very roots of the city, although its modern way of celebrating is only 110 years old. No wonder Carnaval Mazatlan is rumored to be the third largest celebration of its kind in the Americas, after Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans. The six days of Carnaval, as Mazatlan celebrates them, precede the prayer and penitence of Lent. That starts, in Roman Catholic practice worldwide, on Ash Wednesday. Since Carnaval’s dates are dependent on the ecclesiastical calendar, the organizers have no control over when those dates will fall each year. Usually, they come up in mid to late February, but in 2008 Carnaval begins on Jan. 31. Throughout all of January you’re likely to encounter hints of the coming fiesta. For one thing, the 12 candidates for Queen of Carnaval 2008 and their cheering sections will be out and about in public places. Likewise, the two men making their good-natured bids for the crown of the King of Joy and the two pre-teenaged girls aspiring to the title of Child Queen will be out there drumming up support.

Winning the title of Queen of Carnaval means a lot around here. The name of this young woman goes down in the history of Carnaval Mazatlan, and she will be called back and honored again on the 25th and 50th anniversaries of her coronation, as well as preside over a splashy pageant and ride on the most elaborate float during the big parade. On the cultural side, Carnaval festivities also include a long-established tradition of awarding prizes for poetry and literature, and more recently for painting. The pageant on the Friday night of Carnaval, called the Juegos Florales (Flower Games), is a cultural evening of entertainment honoring the winner of the Clemencia Isaura poetry prize. That person crowns the Queen of the Flower Games (the first runner-up in the queen contest). The following night in a similar pageant, the queen herself is crowned and a nationally popular artist, usually a singing star, serenades both the queen and the audience. For families, Carnaval has several features. There’s a Children’s Ball on the Monday of Carnaval where costumed kiddies parade around a hotel ballroom and compete for prizes. That evening, the Child Queen’s coronation pageant generally includes entertainment that’s popular with the bubblegum (or younger) set. The mammoth parades, of course, also are crowd pleasers for the youngsters. Then too, during Carnaval a fair always comes to town with rides and games that have surefire family appeal. For the adult partygoers, there’s a kilometer-long street dance with a different band or combo playing at intervals all along Olas Altas and reaching well onto Paseo Claussen. Bars and food stalls line the “dance floor,” and the revelry goes on well into the early morning hours every night of Carnaval. For a brief idea of what goes on before and during Mazatlan’s maximum fiesta, please see the calendar elsewhere in this edition of the Pacific Pearl.