What better way for Thomas Cook Airlines to celebrate the build up to February’s Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife than with a Carnival Fiesta! And with Barrio East’s flagship cocktail bar the venue, it brought a slap of Latino (or Spanish in this case) to a truly awesome night.
Truth be told I have a bit of a thing for carnivals – the colour, the flamboyant outfits and of course the party atmosphere! When I first moved to London way back in 1989 (yes I know I’m that old!), I lived in Maida Vale. The top of our road was on the Notting Hill Carnival route which meant we could get involved in all the celebrations and every day. I always wanted to join a float but I’m not sure my Eighties get up fitted the theme!
The Thomas Cook Airlines blogger bash was to provide us with a flavour for the second largest carnival in the World. Yes that’s right – the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the second largest carnival after Rio!
The evening kicked off in superb Spanish style with samba dancing, introductions and a run-down of the evenings events. We were then split into groups so we could test our samba skills on the dance floor, turn ourselves into a Carnival King or Queen and indulge in a few tasty cocktails.
First up for our group was face decorating with an array of gems, glitter and sparkles on offer as well as eye shadow in every colour imaginable! A note to self would be not to apply the Vaseline first, gems on the eyelids is not a good look! With glitter applied and a selection of gems now in the right place, there was just time for green eyeshadow to be applied before our samba lesson!
Yes an actual samba lesson with these two lovelies who by the way were amazing!!! They were great teachers too so I managed to keep up – most of the time! It was sweaty work though so we had to have a mojito afterwards to cool down.
Our brilliant samba lesson was followed by the headdress section where we got to turn ourselves into a Carnival King or Queen! I’m not ashamed to admit I love dressing up so it’s just as well our time was restricted! Given the opportunity I know I would have created something enormous overloaded with feathers and jewels! Instead a more restrained version is below along with a couple of dodgy selfies. As I’m usually behind the camera, I’ve not quite mastered what position I need to be in!
Up next was cocktail making! The bar staff at Barrio East were brilliant and made it look so easy. It was amazing to watch and although I just missed out time wise making one myself, there was much tasting to be done. Mojitos were certainly the favourite but seeing a volcano made was something else – rum in a spray gun and actual fire, it was superb!
It was then time to meet a few of the team from Thomas Cook Airlines and Turismo de Tenerife. Although I’ve visited the Canary Islands twice in the past (Tenerife and Lanzarote), it was a long time ago. I’d love to return to Tenerife as the country offers so much more than all year round sunshine. Added to which it’s home to one of the world’s largest carnivals and I’d be thrilled to capture the magic on camera.
After the presentations (I won a fabulous Tenerife beach towel) and a piñata beating, it was mingle with a cocktail time! We had more mojitos, we had volcanoes and most of all we had fun. Loads of fun, we laughed so much my cheeks hurt!
So what makes me a great carnival ambassador?
Bus Turistico provides the perfect opportunity to capture the magic of Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. To me it’s a photographer’s dream being able to share the carnival atmosphere with everyone and showcase what Tenerife as a destination has to offer over and above the climate.
I love to dress up and the bigger the better! Past exploits have included that Madonna outfit (yes the conical bra one!) with matching gold platforms and the union jack dress Geri Halliwell wore – well not the actual dress! I’ve also spent an entire day creating a jellyfish costume which was a masterpiece with hundreds of curly tentacles down to my ankles.
I’ve wanted to be on a float at a carnival since 1989! The Eighties is my era and being a teenager then was just the best – from the fashion and the music to the films. How awesome would it be to relive that time at Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife?
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Photographs: Thomas Cook Airlines and Charly Dove
What an amazing night! I love the colour and glamour of a carnival.
Oh wow what a fantastically fun carnival, love the colours and excitement then comes across in the photos. x
oh wow Charly this looks like an epic evening and the carnival itself sounds super intriguing! i love the sound of it 🙂
Love the images…and those gems. I’ve never been to Tenerife but it seems to be becoming more and more popular, judging by the number of friends who have gone recently. I think you’d make a marvelous ambassador — you’ve got me sold!
I am going to admit that I have never been to a carnival! Perhaps I need to change that!
That looks like an amazing blogger bash, I love it when companies make an effort and put on a great event 🙂
This sounds like a fantastic evening. We were in Lanzarote once at Carnival time and it was great fun. I’m planning to visit Tenerife next year and am looking forward to it.
Now it sounds like a fanastic carnival time to me, what fun.
Loving the pink feather headdress – you look like a very glam Vegas showgirl – which is a good look in my book!
That looks amazing – so bright and colourful!
What a great time you must have had x x
Wow, wow, wow! What a fantastic opportunity – I have never even heard of this carnival. I have been to Tenerife once on a cruise for my 40th. I would love to go there for longer. Kaz x
Sounds like an amazing night and I do hope you win, it would be amazing to see all the pictures you took!xx
Looks like such a fun evening – I think you would make a brilliant Carnival ambassador
I think you would be wonderful doing this Charly
Wow this looks like so much fun! I love all the colour and it looks like a very happy, fun night!