Provincetown’s Carnival Coming Soon

One of the largest outdoor celebrations in Massachusetts and recently named Best Festival on Cape Cod 2013 is coming up fast.

Provincetown’s Carnival started 37 years ago and was an entirely different event. One of the parade founders, Herbie Hintzer says there were "No floats. No banners. We did not even have costumes”. The group of inn owners wanted something fun in their summer and asked the town to host a parade. The town hesitantly said yes and that they should be “prepared for some rock throwing”. But the parade received quite the opposite and became the birth of both Carnival and the Provincetown Business Guild to encourage and support LGBT tourism.

Today, the week of carnival is a fun, upbeat celebration with over 90,000 attendees. The week begins on August 15th and goes through August 21st. This years Carnival theme is Candy Land and includes a vendor fair, boat cruise, dance parties, inn stroll and the best part of the week, the fabulous Carnival Parade where over 80 floats cruise down Commercial Street. The week also features a performance by Sandra Bernhard the famous comedian, singer, actress and author. Tickets are on sale to see her at Provincetown Town Hall on August 19th at 7:30.

Many of the Carnival events such as the Inn Stroll, Liquid Candy Pool Party and Shake Your Bon Bon Boat Cruise require tickets that can be purchased here. This website also includes a list of all the festivities with dates and times.

Join the 90,000 party-goers and head down to Provincetown for the Candy Land Carnival week from August 15th to 21st!