The document summarizes carnival activities in Bilbao, Spain for students of the Instituto Hemingway Spanish language school. It describes a fancy dress competition for the students and notes the main carnival events include two fancy dress parades on February 12th and 16th featuring costumes, giants, and traditional music. It also recommends students attend free concerts on the 16th and describes the entierro de la sardina procession that concludes the carnival festivities in front of the Teatro Arriaga theatre.

1. Carnivals come to Bilbao´s Spanish course students: Fancy dress competition
At Instituto Hemingway we have organised some activites to make the most of the
carnivals in Bilbao. This year the carnivals start on 12th February and culminate on
the 16th February with el entierro de la sardina, a fancy dress procession.
Students of our Spanish course can participate in the many activities which the city has
planned for both tourists and its residents. At Instituto Hemingway we will join in and
of course, dress up! There will be surprises for students who have made the effort to get
out those fancy dress costumes.
The carnivals main event is the traditional fancy dress parade of which there are two;
the first going down Calle Hurtado de Amézaga and the second down Gran Vía. The
fiesta starts at 17.30 and will be a lively affair with fanfare, giants and traditional music.
The stars of the show will be the clowns Pirritx, Porrotx and Marimototx which along
with Txan Magoa, provide entertainment for the young and old alike.
We also recommend that our students attend the free music concerts. Punk group
Gatillo and pop-rock sensation El Mentón de Fogarty play from 21.30 in El Arenal.
El entierro de la Sardina will take place on Tuesday 16th February at 19.00, starting in
Plaza Nueva and concluding in front of Teatro Arriaga. The carnivals activities also
include two gastromic delights. To kick off the festivities on Thursday evening,
traditional chorizo will be offered to guests from 19.30 in Plaza de Arriaga, followed by
another parade. On Sunday el Campeonato de Pucheros, “the stew competition” is
celebrated in Plaza Nueva. The participants start cooking at nine in the morning but the
result isn’t revealed until two in the afternoon. Nice reviews of Instituto Hemingway