The renowned musical group Los Mojinos Escozios, the renowned town criers for the Miguelturra Carnival, were responsible for kicking off the town’s most famous festivities.

The Peña Los Segadores, with its band, as is customary during our carnival, was in charge of organizing the event. From eight in the evening, local, provincial, and regional authorities, along with members of the Association of Peñas, the Carnival King, local Peñas, and the Major Masks, gathered outside the Town Hall in Plaza de España to welcome Los Mojinos Escocios. Minutes later, the Chupinazo (firecracker) was launched from the Miguelturra balcony to kick off the Carnival.

After the reception, the delegation headed to the CERE (Center for Cultural Heritage) and visited the ‘MOMO‘ Carnival Museum. At 9:30 p.m. the long-awaited proclamation began, with a packed Carnival Palace. First, the mayor of the town, Victoria Sobrino, thanked the group members for their presence and invited everyone to join in the joy and enjoyment of the festivities. She also presented the €1,000 prize to Estela Fernanda Agüero, the winner of the 2018 Carnival Poster Competition.

The King Emeritus present at the proclamation

Miguel Angel Rodríguez “El Sevilla”, expressed his gratitude for allowing them to be the announcers of the best Carnival in the world, the Miguelturra Carnival. He began the proclamation with the phrase “it fills me with pride and satisfaction” of our King Emeritus, which was also parodied by our street mask at the start of the carnival.

Phrases like ‘We have to thank the members for putting on the concert after the opening speech, because otherwise, both members and members would have regretted having them as the town criers’, ‘We thank Mayor Victoria for having ordered the municipal officers not to search their pockets before entering’, ‘Tonight we are going to dress up as rockers and we are going to give a Rock and Roll concert, but for real’, ‘These are the best carnivals in the world, because they are your carnivals’ and ‘Don’t drink too much, too many soft drinks that retain fluids and have a lot of sugar, drink in moderation, we have never known who that lady is and we would love to meet her’ have provoked laughter and applause from those present, ending the opening speech with shouts of Long live Miguelturra, Long live its Carnival, Long live its People, Long live the Mother who gave birth to you all and hopefully next year let Carnival be of National Tourist Interest!

Once the proclamation was over, it was time for the 3rd Edition of the Charanga Contest.

The prizes were the following:

• 1st Prize. Alhiguí, 600 Euros and Carnival Ceramics
• 2nd Prize. The Desmadraos, 300 Euros and Carnival Ceramics
• 3rd Prize. Catapúm Chinpúm, 200 Euros, and Carnival Ceramics