More than 30,000 people, mostly British, filled the streets of Benidorm with fancy dress, colour and festivities to take part in the popular ‘Fancy Dress Party’. This huge fancy dress party was put on by the hotels and entertainment venues in the Rincón de Loix area, along with Abreca-Cobreca and the Benidorm City Council. For more than 30 years, this event has taken place the day after the town’s primary festival, the Festes Majors Patronals.
The Mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, the Councillor for Citizen Security and Events, Jesús Carrobles, and other members of the City Council; the President and Secretary General of the tourism association Hosbec, Fede Fuster and Nuria Montes; the Manager of Visit Benidorm, Leire Bilbao; and the Commissioners of the National Police and the Local Police, Luis Manuel Sánchez and José Carlos Amorós, all took part in this celebration that draws thousands of tourists every year. In fact, most people go expressly from their home country or other regions of Spain to celebrate and enjoy this unique funfair, which gets more popular with the national public every year. They organise their trips months in advance.
The Local Police set up access controls for vehicles to the area between Calle Mallorca, Gerona, and Lepanto starting at noon. They were helped by about thirty more officers on top of the regular duty and the National Police. This was done to keep everyone safe. To avoid any unexpected events, the health services, Civil Protection, and Fire Department also put in place a particular routine. As the crowds swelled, this protocol also called for closing streets to make it easier for traffic and the procession of floats organised by local companies along Calle Gerona.
This year is the 31st year of the festival, which started as an idea from local businessman Manuel Nieto, according to Toni Pérez. He went on to say, “Since then, it has only grown, possibly becoming the biggest costume party in Europe.” He also said that it started very informally, as a party among friends, and now more than 30,000 people come to Benidorm to have fun, enjoy themselves, and be happy.
The Councillor for Security and Events said that more than fifty leisure and hospitality businesses in the Rincón area took part in this year’s organisation in some way. They did this by either taking part in the main event, which had fifteen floats, dance groups, percussion bands, and other forms of entertainment, or by putting on activities at their own venues. Other bars and pubs in the city also took part.
Author: Derek Appleton
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