Ash Wednesday 2027 falls on 10 February. That places Curaçao's Gran Marcha on Sunday 7 February 2027, Carnival Monday on 8 February and the Marcha di Despedida on 9 February. The festival programme around those days is not yet published.
Curaçao's carnival calendar is anchored to Ash Wednesday, and everything else hangs off it. Easter Sunday 2027 is 28 March, Ash Wednesday is Easter minus 46 days, and that gives Wednesday 10 February 2027. The Gran Marcha, the grand parade through Willemstad, falls on the Sunday before, and the statute defines Carnival Monday as the Monday after the grand parade. The season as a whole is described in the Curaçao festivals and events guide and in Curaçao Carnival.
One date is fixed by the church calendar. Everything else waits on the organisers
There is a wrong date in wide circulation and it is worth naming. The Wikipedia page on public holidays in Curaçao lists Carnival Monday as February 12, and at least one search engine has reproduced that as a 2027 fact. February 12 was Carnival Monday in 2024. It is not Carnival Monday 2027. If a source gives you 12 February for 2027, it has copied a past year. For what carnival means on the island rather than when it happens, see the Curaçao culture guide.
- Collection
- Holidays & Carnival
- In the series
- No. 101 of 105
- Ash Wednesday
- 10 February 2027
- Carnival Monday
- 8 February 2027
- Good to know
- 4 notes
- Questions
- 9 answered
- Last checked
- 24 September 2026
- Read
- 6 min
What are the Curaçao carnival dates for 2027?
Ash Wednesday 2027 is Wednesday 10 February, which puts the Gran Marcha on Sunday 7 February 2027, Carnival Monday on Monday 8 February and the Marcha di Despedida on Tuesday 9 February. Carnival Monday is a statutory public holiday, defined in law as the Monday after the grand parade rather than by a fixed date, so it moves with Easter.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| January 2027 | Opening of the carnival season. Held in January every year. No 2027 date published as of 24 September 2026. |
| January or early February 2027 | Tumba Festival at the Curaçao Festival Center. No 2027 dates published as of 24 September 2026. |
| Sunday 7 February 2027 | Gran Marcha, the grand parade through Willemstad. Derived from Ash Wednesday, not yet confirmed by the organiser. |
| Monday 8 February 2027 | Carnival Monday. A statutory public holiday, defined in law as the Monday after the grand parade. |
| Tuesday 9 February 2027 | Marcha di Despedida, the farewell parade on the eve of Ash Wednesday. Derived, not yet confirmed. |
| Wednesday 10 February 2027 | Ash Wednesday. The fixed anchor, derived from Easter Sunday 28 March 2027. |
Ash Wednesday is fixed and verifiable. The parade dates are derived from it using the settled Curaçao pattern, and two aggregator sites carry the same dates, but the official carnival organiser had not confirmed them as of 24 September 2026. Confirm against the government holiday list and curacaokarnaval.com before you build travel around them.
What is Tumba?
Tumba is a multi day music competition at the Curaçao Festival Center where composers and performers compete for their tumba to become the official carnival song of the year, and the winner is crowned Rei di Tumba. The tumba is a percussive, up tempo Curaçao song form, and the festival is how the island chooses the tune that will carry the season. It is one of the genuinely local fixtures of the carnival calendar rather than a parade staged for visitors.
Have the 2027 Tumba Festival dates been published?
No. As of 24 September 2026 the official Curaçao carnival portal listed no 2026 or 2027 dates at all. Aggregator sites claim 18 to 22 January 2027 at the Curaçao Festival Center. That claim is unverified, and it sits oddly against the official portal's own listing of Tumba 2025 as 3 to 7 February, three weeks later in the cycle.
The honest statement is that Tumba falls in January or early February and that the dates are usually announced late in the year. How to check: curacaokarnaval.com, the official portal, rather than a travel aggregator.
When does the carnival season open?
The Curaçao carnival season opens in January, and no 2027 opening date had been published as of 24 September 2026. The official portal lists a January opening event for the 2025 season, so the pattern is reliable even where the date is not announced.
If a trip depends on the opening, watch the official portal and confirm directly. Anything you read now that gives a firm 2027 date for the opening or for Tumba is a guess presented as a fact.
How does carnival affect a stay in Willemstad?
Carnival is Curaçao's second demand peak after the December holidays, and the Gran Marcha route runs through Willemstad, so early February 2027 behaves like a second high season. Carnival Monday, 8 February 2027, is a public holiday, which means the same closure expectations as any other statutory day.
Book accommodation and transfers for the parade weekend well ahead, expect road closures and crowds along the route on the Sunday, and expect a quiet Monday for anything that is not carnival. Exact route and timings are published by the organiser close to the event and are not stated here.
Good to know
- Ash Wednesday 2027 is 10 February. Every other carnival date hangs off it.
- Carnival Monday 2027 is 8 February. February 12 is a 2024 date still circulating online as a 2027 one.
- Tumba Festival 2027 dates were not published as of 24 September 2026. Check curacaokarnaval.com.
- Carnival is the island's second demand peak, after the December holidays.
Questions & answers
When is Curaçao Carnival 2027?
Curaçao's carnival season opens in January 2027 and closes with the Marcha di Despedida on Tuesday 9 February 2027, the eve of Ash Wednesday. The Gran Marcha falls on Sunday 7 February 2027 and Carnival Monday on 8 February. Those dates are derived from Ash Wednesday, which is 10 February 2027, and had not been confirmed by the official organiser as of 24 September 2026.
When is the Gran Marcha 2027?
The Gran Marcha, the grand parade through Willemstad, falls on Sunday 7 February 2027. That is the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, which is the settled Curaçao pattern, and Ash Wednesday 2027 is 10 February. The date is a derivation rather than an organiser announcement, so confirm it with curacaokarnaval.com before booking around it.
Is Carnival Monday 2027 on 12 February?
No. February 12 was Carnival Monday in 2024. It appears on the Wikipedia page for public holidays in Curaçao and has been repeated by search engines as a 2027 date. Ash Wednesday 2027 falls on 10 February, which puts Carnival Monday on Monday 8 February 2027.
When is the Tumba Festival 2027?
It has not been published. As of 24 September 2026 the official Curaçao carnival portal listed no 2026 or 2027 dates. Aggregators claim 18 to 22 January 2027, which is unverified and inconsistent with the portal's own listing of Tumba 2025 as 3 to 7 February. Tumba falls in January or early February, with dates usually announced late in the year.
Sources, and what is not settled
Ash Wednesday 2027 is verifiable from the church calendar. The parade dates on this page are derived from it and are labelled as derived. No 2027 festival programme exists to cite, and none is invented here.
- Government of Curaçao, official free days. loketdigital.gobiernu.cw
- Curaçao Carnival, official portal, carnival events. www.curacaokarnaval.com
- Wikipedia, public holidays in Curaçao. en.wikipedia.org
Last checked by Majestic City Palace Hotel, 3 Breedestraat, Punda, Willemstad. Anything unannounced above is marked as unannounced. Corrections are made in place and dated.