The Canary Islands are renowned for the many pride events, carnivals and orgies of colour that take place throughout the year.
Some of the most colourful of all include Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas in Gran Canaria in February, offering up the sort of atmosphere that can rival Rio along with some mind blowing drag queen competitions.
We love our carnival party fun atmosphere and after the Lou Queernaval in Nice, we were keen to discover more, but Spanish style.
The Queernaval in Nice (South France) is alive and kicking with plenty of colour, lots of fun and bags of personality 
" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />
THE CARNIVAL OF LAS PALMAS
Drag queen fever has taken over the world, especially since THAT iconic Miley Cyrus VMA performance.
The Drag Queen show at the Las Palmas Carnival in Gran Canaria includes spectacular performances from drag queens drenched in glitter, OTT lipstick, fabulous platform heels and some of the best lip syncs you’ll ever see.
Highlights from the Drag Queen Gala of Las Palmas – click here for the source
This is the most anticipated event of the entire carnival and always a sell-out. Once the performances finish, one of the drags is crowned The Carnival Drag Queen and paraded around the city with thousands of onlookers cheering on.
Inspired to join in? You should be – it’s actually traditional for men to dress up as women during carnival, so there’s no excuse! Grab a wig, a sexy pair of heels, make up and embrace the carnival spirit. What better way to celebrate the international LBGT community than with sunshine, sequins and Spanish pop music?
The Hairy Sisters waiting to party at the Carnival
THE CARNIVAL OF SANTA CRUZ TENERIFE
Santa Cruz’s parade is one of the largest outside of Rio and features thousands of beautiful people with outrageous costumes.
One of the highlights include the arrival of The Carnival Queen, as well as the senior and junior carnival queens.
A few days before the parade begins, the carnival queen is voted for by a panel of judges and members of the public via sms, in an X Factor sort of way. The entire event includes the usual display of elaborate floats, loud fun personalities and an incredible party atmosphere.
A fun party atmosphere for everyone
Playa de Las America is where the gay boys come to play on Tenerife. The Salytien Shopping Centre in the South of the island has a handful of gay hangouts, which get going after 11pm.
Check out staples like Chaplin’s, Cellar Bar, Geminis and Punto Zero Club.
There’s also a gay apartment complex called Playaflor, a few minutes’ walk away opposite the Veronicas Strip.
Gay boys on a Canarian night out
The Canary Islands are a popular holiday destination all year round. What more can you want – gay parties in the sun with some excellent beaches. But head out at the right time of year and you get to do all this during a loud colourful and extremely fabulous carnival.
Read more about our 5 unique things to do and interesting facts about Gran Canaria and check out the official Tourism Board’s website.
Jumping for joy in the fabulous Gran Canarian
The post Canary Islands carnival fun on Tenerife and Gran Canaria appeared first on Nomadic Boys.