The Carnival Whisperer
Experience Carnival 2020Montevideo
We are sorry! All Christine’s tours for the 2020 summer season are now full.
We will advise as soon as bookings open up again.
Need great things to do? Get the new Guru’Guay Guide to Montevideo
Uruguay celebrates the longest carnival in the world. It starts with a number of parades and continues with nightly shows called tablados that the locals just love. And the whole thing goes on for forty nights.
Carnival in Uruguay is totally different to the Brazilian version. Ours is family-oriented, has virtually zero tourists, a touch of politics and a lot of humour. You have to check it out.
Your tour guide will be the “carnival whisperer”, local culture-vulture Christine Dulin of Uruguay Autentico. Christine is a German-American. She has been living in Uruguay since 2011, speaks excellent Spanish and has a real passion for carnival. We affectionately call her the carnival whisperer because she’ll be telling you what’s happening throughout the show by whispering the details, without bothering the locals around you.
For Carnival, Christine’s offering two tours: to a Carnival show (tablado) and to carnival rehearsals.
Carnival shows take place in different local clubs and sports centres which turn into tablados for the duration of carnival. Anything from four to up to eight different carnival music, drumming and dancing groups will perform on a stage for the audience.
Your tour will be completely private, for you and maximum one person more, the better to blend in as you too will be part of that audience.
Christine will pick you up at your accommodation. As you ride to the venue, you’ll hear about the history of carnival, the different carnival genres and the specific groups you will see preform that evening.
At the venue, there’s a chance to buy something to drink and typical street food.
You’ll see that the crowd is full of families and almost everyone has a mate and thermos flask with them. Mate is a caffeine-based tea that locals drink with a metal straw from a gourd. As part of the ritual, Christine will prepare some mate for you to try at the tablado. So, two Uruguayan cultural baptisms for the price of one!
What’s included
- A three-hour tour for you and one other person maximum
- A trilingual guide who is very knowledgeable about Uruguay and carnival
- Transportation from your accommodation to the venue and back
- Carnival show price includes your ticket
- Rehearsal prices includes a drink and a traditional snack
- Fascinating background on Uruguayan Carnival
- Chance to try mate
- Tour in English, Spanish or German
What you should know
Book a carnival tablado tour for any night from the start of carnival (usually the final week of January) to the end of February 28. Depending on the weather, carnival may even extend into the first days of March – to be announced closer to the dates. Carnival dates are usually out mid year.
Book a carnival rehearsal tour if you are here in January before carnival starts.
Private seating on a terrace overlooking the best carnival parade, the Llamadas also available – to be announced closer to the dates.
Cancelations
If the weather forecast is for rain or strong winds, the tablado will be cancelled since most of them take place outdoors. The only tablado has indoor facilities only opens on Fridays and Saturdays. So if you want to ensure your carnival show tour, book a tour for Friday or Saturday.
FAQ
FAQ Why are the tours for a maximum of two people?
This allows Christine to really fill you in during the show itself as well as before. You’ll be sitting in the tablado audience with the locals and as you can imagine, if there were more people on the tour she’d have to raise her voice, bothering other audience members.
FAQ What’s the difference between going to a show and going to a rehearsal?
Rehearsals take place in local clubs and sports centres. Some are in the open air in public parks. It’s a relaxed atmosphere. You’ll be watching the actual rehearsals of one particular carnival group. So they won’t be wearing make-up or costumes. They may also repeat the same scene or line over and over. But this is a super authentic experience and one that the locals love too. Sometimes hundreds of people attend rehearsals of the most popular groups.
FAQ What time is pick-up?
The exact pick up time will depend on which tablado you’ll be visiting. Christine will evaluate which tablado has the best line-up for the evening and will let you know 2-3 days before. Normally tablados start between 8 and 9pm.
Prices
130 USD Carnival show
90 USD Carnival rehearsal
These are the total tour prices. The cost is the same for one or two people.
We are sorry! All Christine’s tours for the 2020 summer season are now full.
We will advise as soon as bookings open up again.
Need great things to do? Get the new Guru’Guay Guide to Montevideo
We are seriously considering Uruguay for a one month vacation January/February 2-20 and want to go to the Llamadas Parade. Would you happen to know the dates? I would hate to book our flights for the wrong dates and miss the parade.
Your website has been most helpful and we will be sure to purchase your guide books 🙂
Sue
Hey Susan, if you come in that time period then you’ll definitely hit the Llamadas which are usually at the end of the second week in February if my memory serves me right. Make sure you are here for Feb 2 too — the Sea Goddess festival. So great you are going to buy the guidebooks! The second edition of the Montevideo one will be out in October if you want to wait for that one 😉 — All the best, Karen
We are planning on a trip throughout Uruguay in February, and Carnival is a must stop for us. Is your 2 person limit set in stone? Since we are looking to go with our 13 yr old son as well.
Thanks for asking, Ruben. Christine tells me that will be no problem at all. As she explains, you have to be aware that it will not be easy for everyone to hear what she explains during the show since you will all be sitting in the audience with other spectators and she cannot raise her voice. It’s a truly authentic experience. Enjoy!
Thank you for answering my previous question! 🙂 We are planning on being in Montevideo from Feb 19th to the 23d, will we miss the llamadas those days?
The llamadas are the second Thursday and Friday of February. You’d catch them if there was a raincheck until the week after!
Dear Guru, I am busy planning my independent trip to Uruguay and Argentina and trying to lock-in my schedule. I will arrive in mid January and leave in mid March. I would like to plan my time in Montevideo to coincide with some good Carnival events and lock-in a day with you….possibly around late Jan or early Feb. Can you help me with the best day/days to be there. I am less interested in watching a show than I am in feeling that I am part of the celebration. Can you help me?
Hi John, in that case you definitely want to be in Montevideo for the Llamadas parade. Plan to be there that week and also the week after, in case there is a rain check. If you are thinking about coming to live in Uruguay, locking in some time with me is a good idea 🙂 — Best, Karen
Dear Guru
We will be in Montevideo the 7th and 8th february.
We would like to participate to the Llamadas. We were asking how it’s really happening, where we can by tickets, etc.
Thanks a lot
Morgane and Guillaume
Hi Morgane and Guillaume, there is plenty of information about carnival and the llamadas on the site. If you are finding it a bit confusing, then I recommend buying the new Guru’Guay Guide to Montevideo which has all the information in a more organised fashion. Hope this helps, Karen