Le Carnaval de Limoux

The carnival in Limoux is "the longest in the world" -- every weekend, from January till March, the carnival societies take turns to parade around the town, accompanied by traditional bandas. There are no floats, just masked and costumed Fécos with long sticks made of reeds. They process around the place de la République, visiting every bar en route (there's at least one on ever side of the square).

It's a very formalised event, which to me seems barely to reflect the true spirit of carnival, "the world turned upside-down". You have to be invited to join one of the carnival bands, and your candidacy has to be accepted unanimously; they are a very closed society. Each band has its allotted day for its procession, the costumes are all variants on what you see here, and there are stylised and formalised movements, with very traditional music that doesn't change. If you want to join in without being a member of a band, you can be a goudil, which just means following your chosen band in whatever disguise you fancy.

The most authentic and subversive carnival I've ever been to is the one in Ituren, in the Basque country. It has its formal element, the Joaldunak, but alongside them, masked men (armed with chainsaws when we were there!) created genuine chaos. Subversive enough for Franco to attempt to ban it. Limoux's carnival is completely safe and sanitized.