The International Congress of the Cádiz Carnival analyses half a century of coplas without censorship
Topics Universidad de Cádiz
The Cádiz Carnival Chair of the University of Cádiz is holding the 25th edition of its congress from this Wednesday until Friday, October 23, focused on the 50 years of carnivals in freedom, from 1977 to 2026.
The Cádiz Carnival sits down once again to study its own history. The Cádiz Carnival Chair of the University of Cádiz (UCA) inaugurated this Wednesday at the Constitución 1812 building the 25th International Carnival Congress, which in this edition has the motto "50 years of carnivals in freedom (1977-2026)" and will run until Friday, October 23.
Half a century of street celebration
The gathering focuses on the recovery of the celebration after the dictatorship. According to the director of the Chair, Alberto Ramos, the congress commemorates "that recovery of the popular celebration, less constrained, less censored, less controlled." The anniversary invites, according to the organizers, an analysis of the role of the Cádiz Carnival and other carnival celebrations in shaping democratic culture.
Women, education and humour
The programme is divided into papers and round tables. Among the topics to be addressed are the role of women in the Carnival, education and the Carnival, humour and religion, dictatorship and democracy and carnival listening, as well as contributions on the Carnival in Andalusia. The coordinator of the Congress, Elena Merino, has stated that the gathering is held every two years to "leave enough time for us to share our studies and research."
The opening lecture
After the opening, the associate professor of Contemporary History at the National University of Distance Education (UNED) César Rina Simón spoke, with the opening lecture entitled "Festival, hegemony and transgression in times of dictatorship."
Who organises it
The congress is promoted by the UCA and the Cádiz City Council, through the Carnival Chair, with the collaboration of the Aula de Cultura del Carnaval de Cádiz, the Cádiz Provincial Council, the Junta de Andalucía and Esyde Cádiz. The inauguration was attended, among others, by the director of the secretariat of University Extension and Social Projection of the UCA, Manuel Ceballos; the deputy councillor for Carnival and Festivities, Beatriz Gandullo; the director of the Aula de Cultura del Carnaval, Antonio Montiel, and the director of Esyde Cádiz, Manuel Reyes.