Yucatan Living

Merida Carnival Video 2006

This is a "highlights" reel from the final Carnival (Mardi Gras) parade on Fat Tuesday 2006, called the "War of the Flowers", where people toss flowers at each other. At least that's how they do it here. In some parts of Mexico, they throw water balloons filled with not very nice stuff, so we're told. The tradition of throwing water and other liquids of people on the last day of Carnival seems to have died out in the Yucatan the last few years. But you can still get someone's attention by yelling "Aguas!". That literally means "waters!" but it means "Watch out! You are about to get water thrown on your head!"

You can also read our companion article called Carnaval, Yucatan Style.