The Uruguayan carnival is the longest carnival in the world. It starts at the end of January and continues until mid-March. For more than 50 days, in street parades and neighborhood stages, shows full of color and joy unfold.

The kick-off in Montevideo is the Inaugural Parade along Avenida 18 de Julio, in which all the groups that take part in the festivities participate, accompanied by floats and the procession of the Carnival Queens. However, the parade that arouses more interest among foreigners, due to its singularity, is the Desfile de LLamadas that takes place in the South and Palermo Neighborhoods, evoking the meetings of the black slaves that gathered outside the city during the XVIII and XIX centuries. Tens of thousands of spectators vibrate with the strength and color of candombe, characterized by the dialogue of three types of drums: chico, repique and piano. The spectacle is moving; nowhere in the world can you hear more than 2,000 drums beating in unison. Let yourself be carried away by this rhythm, declared a World Heritage Site, is a must for visitors. So is discovering the murga, one of the most genuine expressions of Uruguayan culture because of its popular support. On warm February nights, these carnival groups perform on neighborhood stages, “tablados” and compete in the Official Carnival Contest, where they present their vision of the country and the world with humor and satire, using multiple choral arrangements, eye-catching costumes and creative make-up. Parodistas, Revistas, Humoristas and Lubolos are other picturesque expressions that can be enjoyed in the contest and on the stages of Montevideo.
Beyond Montevideo, all the cities of the interior of the country have their own inaugural parade, each one with its own particularities. Thus, in the border towns, such as Rivera, Artigas and Melo, the parades adopt more elements of the Brazilian carnival.