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New here? This is the 2025 recap. For the full history, the vejigantes, and what the carnival is about, see our complete guide: Carnaval Ponceño: The Complete Guide.
Carnaval Ponceño 2025 ran Thursday, February 27 through Tuesday, March 4, 2025, on Plaza Las Delicias in downtown Ponce. Six nights: the Baile de Máscaras to open, the Entrada del Rey Momo, the coronation of the queens, the Sunday float parade, a salsa night led by Willie Rosario, and the Entierro de la Sardina to close. Choco Orta, Joseph Fonseca, Kriptony Texeira, Limi-T 21, and Plena Libre filled out the week.
The 2025 carnival at a glance
- What: Carnaval Ponceño 2025
- When: February 27 to March 4, 2025
- Where: Plaza Las Delicias and downtown Ponce
- Admission: Free
Thursday, February 27: Baile de Máscaras
Plaza Las Delicias
- 6:30 PM · Harold Pratts y Jíbara Banda
- 7:30 PM · Gran Baile de Máscaras
The masked ball is the traditional curtain-raiser, the night the vejigante masks come out and the week finds its tone.
Friday, February 28: Entrada del Rey Momo
Desfile Calle Isabel to Plaza Las Delicias
- 7:30 PM · Las Hijas del Tambor
- 8:30 PM · Desfile (Entrada del Rey Momo)
- 10:00 PM · Choco Orta
- 11:30 PM · Joseph Fonseca
The parade runs down Calle Isabel to the plaza and installs the carnival’s mock king. This is the night that signals the party is officially on.
Saturday, March 1: Coronación de Reinas
Desfile Calle Isabel to Plaza Las Delicias
- 3:30 PM · Circo en la Plaza ACIRC
- 7:00 PM · Kriptony Texeira
- 8:00 PM · Desfile (Coronación de Reinas)
- 10:00 PM · Freddy Kenton
- 11:30 PM · Limi-T 21
The queens are crowned and celebrated in their own parade. Circus in the afternoon makes this the family-facing day before the later music.
Sunday, March 2: Desfile de Carrozas
From Boulevard Miguel Pou to Plaza Las Delicias
- 1:00 PM · Algareplena
- 2:00 PM · Desfile de Carrozas
- 3:00 PM · Jorge Brown (on Calle Isabel)
- 9:00 PM · Moncho Rivera
- 11:00 PM · Rika Swing
The centerpiece. The float parade is the day most people mean when they say they went to Carnaval, running from Boulevard Miguel Pou into the heart of downtown.
Monday, March 3: Baile de Salsa
Plaza Las Delicias
- 6:30 PM · Jota Ruiz
- 8:00 PM · Willie Rosario
- 10:00 PM · Luis González “Tsunami”
Salsa night, and a heavyweight one. Willie Rosario is a bandleader with more than half a century in the music, the kind of booking that pulls in a serious dancing crowd.
Tuesday, March 4: Entierro de la Sardina
Desfile Calle Isabel to Plaza Las Delicias
- 7:00 PM · Plena Libre
- 8:00 PM · Desfile (Entierro de la Sardina)
- 10:00 PM · Los Pleneros de la Cresta
- 11:30 PM · Oscarito “El más Loco”
Every carnival needs a funeral. The Burial of the Sardine is a mock funeral procession that satirically buries the excess of the week before Lent begins. Plena Libre, one of Puerto Rico’s most respected plena outfits, closed the parade.
Where it happened
Every headline event sat on or around Plaza Las Delicias, Ponce’s central square, by the cathedral and steps from the Parque de Bombas.
Plaza Las Delicias, the heart of Carnaval Ponceño.
What stood out in 2025
The carnival ran late into February and crossed into March. With Ash Wednesday falling on March 5, the 2025 dates pushed later than the two prior years, closing on Tuesday, March 4. Carnival tracks the movable pre-Lenten calendar, so the window shifts every year.
A salsa elder headlined Monday. Willie Rosario anchored the Baile de Salsa. Booking a bandleader of his standing on a Monday is a reminder that Ponce takes its salsa night as seriously as its parade.
The women-led opening. Las Hijas del Tambor opened the Rey Momo night on Friday and Choco Orta followed later, putting women’s voices at the front of the carnival’s biggest entrance parade.
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 2025? Tell us in the comments which night won: Choco Orta on Friday, Willie Rosario’s salsa night, or the Sunday float parade. We read every one.
This post covers the 2025 edition, which has concluded. Schedule and lineup reflect the official Visit Ponce / Municipio Autónomo de Ponce program as published at the time. For the full story of the carnival, see our complete guide to Carnaval Ponceño.
