I will be in BA during the week of Carnival. Will there be lots going on? I have also heard that Montevideo has festivities. Has anyone gone to Uruguay for Carnival and how was it?

Anybody???

I can't answer your specific questions, but I was in Montevideo this past spring and visited the newish Carnival Museum there. I asked them what goes on in the city for Carnival. They told me that it's not a big as Rio's celebration, but that the city is quite proud of theirs, and that there is still a lot to see and do.

Thanks JeffCR for the reply. I am not finding very much here or elsewhere on Uruguay or the carnival events.

Carnaval in BA is basically nonexistant. You'd have to head up to Gualeyguaychu in the Entre Ríos province to see anything worthwhile.

Montevideo's carnaval celebration is the longest in the world - 40 days. The main carnaval parade is great but a bit touristy. The real deal is "las llamadas" the week before. This is more of an authentic display of the local comparsas (individual groups playing candombe music) parading through the street in the Barrio Sur (next to the Ciudad Vieja). I highly recommend going - I went a few years ago and greatly enjoyed the experience.

You can also see the main Comparsa and Murga (not to be confused with the Argentine-style murga - the Uruguayan-style is much better) competitions in the Teatro del Verano.

You can read more about Montevideo's carnaval here - http://www.internationalliving.com/C...27-07-carnival

melinbsas: first, welcome to our forum. Thank you for the link and info on Carnival. I still haven't found very much. We will be there the week of Fat Tuesday so we are looking forward to finding some great music and festivals. When you say "the week before" do you mean before fat tuesday or easter?
The Teatro del Verano sounds great.

It took some digging but I just found the confirmed schedule for the 2009 carnaval activities in Uruguay. It is in Spanish - http://www.turismo530.com/noticia_ampliada.php?id=12209.

- Main carnaval parade (Desfile Inaugural del Carnaval 2009) is Jan 29 at 9pm on Av. 18 de Julio from the Plaza Independencia up to the municipal building.

- Llamadas parade (Desfile de Llamadas 2009) is Feb. 5th and 6th at 9pm in Barrio Sur and Palermo, on Isla de Flores street, from Carlos Gardel to Minas.

- Samba School Parade (Desfile de Escuelas de Samba 2009) is Feb 12 at 8:30pm on Av. 8 de Octubre