Las Palmas Carnival 2027 turns the capital of Gran Canaria into one of Spain’s biggest and most flamboyant street parties, running from 22 January to 28 February 2027 under the theme “Music”. For gay visitors the centre of gravity is the Drag Queen Gala, the spectacular contest that fills the Parque de Santa Catalina and this year lands on Friday 19 February. Las Palmas Carnival 2027 pairs weeks of parades, galas and open-air concerts with one of the most famous drag competitions on the planet.
The Drag Queen Gala is the beating heart of the gay carnival experience in Las Palmas. Held since 1998, it has grown into arguably the most established contest of its kind anywhere, a night of towering costumes, sky-high heels and ferocious choreography broadcast live across the Canary Islands. Performers spend months building their elaborate fantasias, then compete on a giant stage in front of thousands. For 2027 the drag programme is spread across two Fridays, with the preselection on 12 February and the main gala on 19 February.
This is no fringe sideshow. The winning queen becomes a Canarian celebrity for the year, and the gala regularly makes national headlines, celebrated as an ambassador for the inclusive, boundary-pushing spirit of the whole carnival. In 2027 the drag heats were deliberately split over two nights, at the artists’ own request, to give each round more room to breathe.
Beyond the drag, the carnival is a five-week marathon. The calendar runs from the opening gala through the election of the Carnival Queen and the Gran Dama, the children’s events and the huge Cabalgata street parade, to the Entierro de la Sardina that closes the party on 28 February. Declared a Fiesta of International Tourist Interest, it is one of the oldest and largest carnivals in Spain, and the streets around the port fill night after night.
Most of the big nights unfold on the open-air stage in the Parque de Santa Catalina, near the port and the Las Canteras beach district. The free concerts staged here regularly pull tens of thousands of people, and the same stage hosts the Drag Queen Gala itself, so the park is the single best place to feel the scale of the event.
Beyond the ticketed galas, the carnival’s free open-air night parties, the mogollones, are where the city truly lets go. Thousands of costumed revellers pack the squares and the port district around Santa Catalina into the small hours, with music stages, food stalls and an anything-goes dress code. It is the most democratic side of the festival, free to join and open to everyone, and for many visitors it is the part that best captures the warm, chaotic energy of a Canarian carnival. Come in costume, follow the crowds, and the night tends to look after itself.
Las Palmas Carnival 2027 runs from 22 January to 28 February 2027, with the drag preselection on 12 February and the Drag Queen Gala on 19 February at the Parque de Santa Catalina, 35007 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Many events are free, including the Santa Catalina concerts, while some galas are ticketed and seats go fast. The organiser is LPA Carnaval, the carnival office of the city council, and the theme for the year is “Music”. The full day-by-day schedule is published on the official site closer to the dates, so confirm exact timings there.
If you are already planning a Gran Canaria trip, our guide to CanCanaria Adventure Week 2026 maps out the wider gay calendar on the island, from Las Palmas down to Maspalomas, so you can build a longer stay around the carnival.
A world-class drag gala, weeks of free concerts by the sea and one of Spain’s oldest carnivals make Las Palmas Carnival 2027 a highlight of the winter calendar. It is warm when the rest of Europe is grey, it is genuinely welcoming to LGBTQ+ visitors, and it hands the biggest stage in the city over to drag. For a January-into-February escape with sunshine and sequins, few events come close.
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