The Zakynthos Carnival is the annual carnival that happens once every year. This time it will happen in February 2011. The entire fun and frolic lasts for about 4 weeks but the major action happens in the last 2 weeks of the carnival where you will finds crowds gathering to watch the spirit of the carnival. This carnival takes its inspiration from the Venetian Carnival.

It is comparatively smaller in scale as compared to the Venetian Carnival but it surely works to take us back to that magnificent era. The beginning of the carnival is marked by a town crier going around the town and announcing the schedule of the events in a traditional way. If it is a carnival, it surely will have dance, party, beautiful elaborate costumes, parades and much more.

The parade of King Carnival can be witnessed on 2 Sundays out of 4. Not only the streets, but even the bars, pubs and restaurants bask in the carnival mood which can be seen through the various parties and dance organized at these locations.

Now if you wish to see a replica of the Venetian carnival, wait till the last day where you will find a Venetian wedding taking place alongside a big parade. This event surely takes you back to the 16th century, where the costumes, make-up, sets, mood all represent the renaissance era and takes you there for a brief while. The carnival ends with a parade of mourners following the corpse of Carnival King. The parade takes you to the funeral of the mask where the whole carnival ends.

This happens on the last Sunday of the carnival and though it is a funeral, the whole set-up looks quite hilarious and completely entertaining. The mood of the entire town during this carnival is colorful and lively. Now if you wish to attend this carnival, you can take direct flights to zante from a lot of European cities. However, these flights are active only during the tourist period.

If you wish to visit Zante during any other time of the year, it might be a bit difficult to find direct flights.