High tech glamour steals the show at Águilas carnival as external peñas parade

Costumes used both light and digital display to wow carnival-goers

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On Friday evening Águilas carnival played host to visiting peñas from across the region, filling the streets with an extraordinary breadth of creativity and powerful blocks of vibrant colour.

It’s fascinating to see the variation in costumes and the exciting ideas of costume designers, striving to endlessly excite and impress the watching crowds, amongst whom were many of the members of the Águilas peñas who don´t parade on this guest night.

It’s a good job they didn´t as it took over four hours for the visitors to make their way down the parade route as it was, with cowgirls, Egyptian princesses and jewel-bedecked Indians in amongst astonishing high-tech costumes which took onlookers into the future of carnival.

Attention to detail on these costumes is absolutely astonishing; cheeks glittering with tiny pearls and jewels, towering tiaras crammed with vibrant red stones, collars and pendants flowing down the arms which in turn drip with shimmering beads, ethereal lens creating unusual effects with the eyes, heads crowned with dragons or jauntily angled hats which in turn were smothered with exquisite beadwork or layers of lace, acres of feathers and even shells, enormous wigs and glittering fabrics, huge curved nails painted to match and extraordinary masks, glamorous, vibrant and all too fleeting.

Sadly, the detail often only emerges when looking at photographs after the parade, and the peñas move through so quickly that it’s often difficult to appreciate the year of work which has goe into creating this vibrant spectacle.

In amongst the glitz this year were costumes which hinted of the future of carnival to come, as technology brings in a new dimension and opens the door for further creativity. This year several of the costumes featured remote control lighting and digital display systems, creating extraordinary effects and allowing the dancers to assume an almost mechanical aspect. Extraordinary make-up brought the Matrix alive and the peñas from Totana completely stole the show with their astonishing metallic costumes and visual effects.

There were Indians everywhere and Mula also did itself proud with an astonishing Indian-themed display, featuring an enormous painted elephant, while Indians of the feather head-dress variety were very much in evidence, sporting a dazzling range of colours and stunning beadwork. Fortunately Puerto Lumbreras supplied a troupe of gun-slinging cowgirls who entertained the crowd with an innovative and energetic gun-toting routine to keep them under control, although the night undeniably belonged to the Carnival of the future and the possibilities unlocked by remote control technology.

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