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La Ceiba Carnival
Every May our little town of La Ceiba, Honduras hosts Gran Carnaval Internacional de La Ceiba, or Carnival for short. For one week the population swells from 200,000 people to over 500,000 people. The festival, which honors Saint Isidore the Laborer, the patron saint of La Ceiba, is the second biggest carnival in the world. This year Carnival takes place from May 14-21.
They host parades, pageants and special events all week. The big draw is the neighborhood carnivalitos (little carnivals). Each night a different residential neighborhood hosts a carnivalito. These carnivalitos get started around 10:00pm and go until early the next morning. They have stages, bands, dancing, beer, food and games. They are large raucous parties and attract hundreds of thousands of people each night.
Street vendors and beer tents make money hand over fist. But, schools, businesses and every day life all but shuts down. Merchants enjoy the boost to the local economy, but many La Ceiba residents escape the city for a few days. Our ministry slows way down and some churches have even been known to cancel services. Public drunkenness, murders and rapes increase during Carnival.
Please pray for the safety of our mission team and the hundreds of thousands of revelers in La Ceiba this week.
