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New here? This is the 2024 recap. For the full history, the vejigantes, and what the carnival is about, see our complete guide: Carnaval Ponceño: The Complete Guide.
Carnaval Ponceño 2024 marked 166 years of history and stretched across nine days, from the Aires de Carnaval salsa nights starting Monday, February 5 to the Entierro de la Sardina on Tuesday, February 13, 2024. Toño Rosario, De La Ghetto, Plena Libre, a Rubén Blades tribute, a Frankie Ruíz homage, and Ponce’s own Iris Chacón at the Sunday parade. If 2023 was a solid carnival, 2024 was a stacked one.
The 2024 carnival at a glance
- What: Carnaval Ponceño 2024, 166 años de historia
- When: February 5 to 13, 2024 (Aires de Carnaval, Feb 5 to 7; main carnival, Feb 8 to 13)
- Where: Plaza Las Delicias, with the Aires de Carnaval nights on the Paseo de la Salsa José “Cheo” Feliciano
- Admission: Free
Monday, February 5: Aires de Carnaval
Paseo de la Salsa José “Cheo” Feliciano
- 7:30 PM · Beauties and the Beast, Rock de los 80’s
Tuesday, February 6: Aires de Carnaval
Paseo de la Salsa José “Cheo” Feliciano
- 8:00 PM · Ponce es Salsa All Star
- 10:00 PM · Creación Boricua (homage to Frankie Ruíz)
Wednesday, February 7: Aires de Carnaval
Paseo de la Salsa José “Cheo” Feliciano
- 8:00 PM · Bomba Iyá
- 9:30 PM · Orquesta N’Kanto
- 10:30 PM · Plenéalo
Thursday, February 8: Baile de Máscaras
Plaza Las Delicias
- 6:30 PM · Grupo Esencia, Baile de Máscaras
The main carnival opened with the masked ball, the night the vejigante masks come out.
Friday, February 9: Entrada del Rey Momo
Plaza Las Delicias
- 6:30 PM · Los Pleneros de Ponce
- Desfile de la Entrada del Rey Momo
- Desfile con los Pleneros del Lago
- La Secta
- Lími-T 21
The parade that installs the carnival’s mock king. This was the night the carnival officially took the city.
Saturday, February 10: Coronación de Reinas
Plaza Las Delicias
- 3:30 PM · Richard Nivar y su Rika Swing; Circo-Acirc
- 6:00 PM · “Una nota de Amor,” fashion show by designer Ari Pilarte (Paseo Amor / Arias)
- Kevin Gabriel
- Desfile de Coronación de las Reinas del Carnaval
- Desfile con Plenero del Lago
- Toño Rosario
- J-King y Maximan
The most variety-packed day of the carnival: circus, runway, coronation pageantry, merengue heavyweight Toño Rosario, and reggaetón from J-King y Maximan, all on one bill.
Sunday, February 11: Desfile de Carrozas
Plaza Las Delicias, Parque del Tricentenario, and Plaza Ramos Antonini
- 12:30 PM · Show del Payaso “Flacumbo,” Parque del Tricentenario
- 1:00 PM · Desfile de Carrozas; Algareplena (main stage); Junte de Pleneros (Calle Montaner)
- 3:30 PM · Jorge Brown (Calle Isabel at Plaza Ramos Antonini)
- Iris Chacón (main stage)
- Bonny Cepeda (main stage)
The centerpiece. One scheduling note worth flagging: the official flyer lists the Payaso Flacumbo show at 12:30 PM under the 1:00 PM parade header, so the kids’ show ran just ahead of the float parade rather than after it. If you were mapping the day, the clown came first.
Monday, February 12: Baile de Salsa
Plaza Las Delicias
- 7:00 PM · Wito Arenas y su Orquesta
- 8:30 PM · Homenaje a Rubén Blades (Rubén Blades tribute)
- 10:00 PM · Norbert con Escuadrón desde la Loma
A Rubén Blades tribute is a statement act, the kind that pulls in an older, serious salsa crowd alongside the party.
Tuesday, February 13: Entierro de la Sardina
Plaza Las Delicias
- 6:30 PM · Plena Libre
- Desfile del Entierro de la Sardina
- Jandy Ventura, in honor of Johnny Ventura
- De La Ghetto
The carnival closed with the Burial of the Sardine, the mock funeral that buries the week’s excess before Lent. Ending on Plena Libre and a Jandy Ventura set honoring the late Johnny Ventura gave the farewell real weight, before De La Ghetto closed the reggaetón chapter.
Where it happened
Most of the 2024 carnival centered on Plaza Las Delicias, with the Sunday parade widening out to the Parque del Tricentenario and Plaza Ramos Antonini, and the Aires de Carnaval nights on the Paseo de la Salsa.
Plaza Las Delicias, the heart of Carnaval Ponceño.
What stood out in 2024
166 years, and they leaned into it. The anniversary branding was front and center all week. Ponce counts its carnival as one of the oldest in the Americas, and 2024 was a reminder of how far back the tradition runs.
A hometown headliner. Iris Chacón, the “Vedette of the Americas,” played the Sunday parade. Chacón is Ponce-born, so this was a homecoming as much as a booking.
The tributes carried the week. A Frankie Ruíz homage on the Paseo de la Salsa, a Rubén Blades tribute on Monday, and a Jandy Ventura set honoring Johnny Ventura to close. Three generations of Caribbean music, honored across nine days.
The range, again. Merengue from Toño Rosario, reggaetón from De La Ghetto and J-King y Maximan, plena from Plena Libre, and a designer fashion show, all under one carnival banner.
Planning a visit
Carnaval Ponceño returns every year in the week before Ash Wednesday. For the full history, the vejigantes, the two carnivals of Ponce, and current logistics, see our complete guide to Carnaval Ponceño.
Coming to the south coast? Pair it with our Puerto Rico travel guide and our guide to Puerto Rican street food. If you love the island’s festivals, see our guides to SanSe and the Yauco National Coffee Festival.
Follow along
- Facebook: Carnaval Ponceño
- Web: Visit Ponce
Were you at Carnaval 2024? Nine days is a lot of carnival. Tell us in the comments which night won: the Frankie Ruíz homage, Iris Chacón at the parade, the Rubén Blades tribute, or Plena Libre closing it out. We read every one.
This post covers the 2024 edition, which has concluded. Schedule and lineup reflect the official Visit Ponce / Municipio Autónomo de Ponce itinerary flyers as published at the time; where a flyer’s own times appeared out of order, we noted it rather than silently correcting it. For the full story of the carnival, see our complete guide to Carnaval Ponceño.
