The Carnival (or aratusteak, in Basque) kicks off in Bilbao with the trial of Farolín and Zaranbolas, two popular characters who, this year, will be represented by the actress and actor couple, Ylenia Baglieto and Lander Otaola, and concludes with the classic spectacle of the burning of the sardine.
In between these two events are five days of parades, costume contests, concerts, children’s games and workshops, parades and dances in a Bilbao that shows its most entertaining side, or “txirene”, as its inhabitants like to say.