Fancy-dress and disguises animate the various groups and streets of the town. The young and the not-so-young enter a world of fantasy where they dress up as their favourite character.

Carnival has a long history in Durango. As far back as the XVII century they are mentioned in the Registers of the town hall.

The carnival would start on the Sunday before Carnival Tuesday. That day, going by the name basokoipetsu or txitxiburduntxi, everyone would go out into the countryside with a group of friends or family to a type of picnic or barbecue where they would have roast txorizo and other meat products. The txitxiburduntxi tradition survives to this day amongst young people, either as a school outing or just with a group of friends.

The different days of Carnival have their own denomination in Durango: eguenzuri (white Thursday or fat Thursday), bariku argi (luminous Friday), zapatu erregular (regular Saturday), domeka karnabal (carnival Sunday), astelen karnabal (carnival Monday) and martitzen karnabal (carnival Tuesday).