Beatrix pottering: All the fun of the fiesta

Sa Rueta! Palma’s Carnaval for kids. A whole section of the city closed to traffic, and a smorgasbord of entertainment for their delectation. We thought it would be good; we didn’t realise how good.

With a wide range of performances from clowns and magicians to Punch and Judy and acrobats; with helium balloons, confetti fights, giant bubbles, party games (the best being imaginary jump rope, which Jemima was hugely excited about), plus about 20 different face-painting stalls, all free; as well as stilt-walkers and a thrilling drumming group - there was so much to see and do.

And everyone had got fully into the spirit - all the children were in costumes (Elsa being the most common, but also pirates, animals, Disney princesses, superheroes, dinosaurs, baby ducklings and dragons, a tiny scuba diver and a brilliant rabbit in a top hat). But we also saw adults, families and large groups all dressed up in themed outfits - trolls, Smurfs, knights, Vikings, Captain Hook and Tinkerbell, groups of emojis and Star Wars characters, about twenty Batmen and Batgirls of all sizes and ages, plus Snow White and the seven dwarves with the family dog as Prince Charming.

And as the icing on the cake, as we wandered, joining in as much as possible, the sun came out - it was hard to believe it had been hailing yesterday. It was brilliant.

By 1.30pm it was still really busy, but the scheduled entertainment was stopping before the adults’ Carnaval took over in the afternoon. So we said goodbye to all the fun, and drove a short way north to the Gastronomic Market that Kevin had discovered.

After he'd manoeuvred us into a tiny parking space, we eventually found the market, hidden in one building of an elegant red-brick complex with an art house cinema, restaurants, and some kind of cultural centre. It was great, like a beautiful mini Borough market, with a graceful arcade lined with little stalls with immaculate specialized food offerings: oysters and shellfish here; amazing jamón and cheese there; Mallorcan tapas; Spanish tapas; pizza; paella; all at different little stalls - the range was amazing and it all looked fabulous. And, once we'd chosen (a pinxtos selection plus some jamón and manchego), of course it tasted great too, accompanied by a lovely glass of wine. Another place to which to return: Kevin and I have plans to work our way through the food options.

Still scattering confetti as we walked back to the car, we returned home. We tried (and failed) to get Jemima to have a siesta; so in the end Kevin had a little sleep while Jemima and I did some cutting and sticking in the sunshine that poured into the sitting room. (Thank goodness it's back: that room is pretty cold when there's no sun.)

And that was it - our first, marvellous Carnaval. A shame we didn't know about it when planning the visit of our guests arriving tomorrow - they'd have loved it. Still, there's always next year...