It’s Carnival Time! Last night we joined in the festivities as Limassol crowned its Carnival Queen and commenced 10 days of partying. Over the next week, the city will be filled with parades, masked balls, drinking and serenaders. People indulging before starting a 50-day fast for Easter.

For us, the start of Carnival Time is marked by a family trip to Jumbo to buy our carnival costumes. Jumbo is a massive store that sells just about everything and, in the carnival season, a quarter of the shop is filled with every kind of fancy dress imaginable. Hats, masks, trumpets, silly spray, you name it. This year my in-laws are here, so there was extra costume fun!

Decked out in our costumes, we headed for Grigori Afxentiou Square on Anexartisias Street. The street was closed and filled with people in fancy dress, balloon sellers and entertainers. Huge caricatured statues lined the square – presumably satirizing key public figures.

Massive inflatable balls bounced over the heads of the crowd as the Brazilian singer (and former neighbour of ours) Halsey Clouberg put on a rousing show. We watched jugglers, clowns and a fire-poi dancer. The atmosphere was electric and I loved how everyone joined in, blurring the line between spectator and entertainer.

At 7pm the street was filled with the sounds of drumming and the crowds parted as the Batukinio Percussion Group paraded down the street. People danced, threw confetti and sprayed silly spray. I turned around to see Goobie on Matt’s shoulders, a look of intense concentration on his face as he sprayed silly spray all over Matt’s head.

The drummers parted, forming a long avenue, and all heads turned to look up the street. I could see flashes of gold approaching, a man carrying a huge crown on a cushion and women in gold dresses with painted faces.

The Queen of the Carnival had arrived.

She walked onto the stage in the Square and, surrounded by the mayor and members of the Municipal Council, she was crowned by last year’s King of the Carnival.

The king or queen of the carnival usually satirize or symbolise something relevant to Cyprus. This year the Queen represents ‘Limassol, the diamond of the Mediterranean.’ After her coronation, she climbed onto her float which was a massive lion with a diamond in its mouth. Fireworks erupted and her float moved off down Anexartisias Street, followed by the royal family, the Limassol Majorettes of the Cyprus Girl Guides Association and the Batukinio Percussion Group.

People followed the procession on its way through Limassol, but we had a four year-old Goobie with us who was up way past his bedtime. We soon lost sight of the procession and took a slow walk to Heroes’ Square, where the procession would finish.

There was a party atmosphere at Heroes’ Square, with singers performing on stage, stands selling silly hats and food stalls selling meat. Lots and lots of meat. This week is Meat Week – or Kreatini – and it’s the last week that meat can be eaten before Easter. Everyone is making the most of it. This isn’t called ‘Stinky Thursday’ for nothing – the whole square smelled delicious. And I’m a vegetarian!

Finally the sound of singing could be heard coming up the street and lorries carrying seranaders drove past. And then the drumming heralded the arrival of the Queen at her destination. She looked magnificent dancing on her huge lion float. Goobie and I danced along with her.

Once the Queen reached the Square she joined the mayor on stage. The mayor said some words but we didn’t stay until the very end. Goobie was tired and it was time to get going.

We headed back buzzing, after our fabulous evening. Looking forward to seeing what else the Carnival has in store.