Summer might not be the most obvious time to throw a Mardi Gras-inspired party, but really, the theme is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Grand Carnivale at Kings Dominion (Richmond, VA).

From now through July 7, Kings Dominion is home to the all-new Grand Carnivale international festival. The festivities begin at 5 pm, and the coaster nut in me is kind of hesitant to say this, but it’s so much fun you might actually forget about the rides!

Though its been around since 1972, Kings Dominion has been through a few owners over the years. Since 2007, it’s been owned by Cedar Fair, who happen to know a thing or two about theme parks, and the changes just keep a-comin’ for good ol’ Kings Dominion.

In fact, Grand Carnivale is the first festival of this scale to be held at the park, and the evening parade is actually the FIRST parade in the park under Cedar Fair’s ownership. That’s right. And even though I’m not normally a “parade guy,” knowing that the Spectacle of Color is the first parade to march through the park in over 12 years makes it something special.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Beginning at 5, the Grand Carnivale kicks off with a welcome ceremony on stage near the park’s central feature – the Eiffel Tower. Your emcees for the event, King Carl Nivale and Queen Cara Nivale (get it?), open the festivities in style.

From then on, six separate “countries” are open for business. Centered around the Eiffel Tower are areas devoted to France, China, India, Italy, and Germany that play host to food tents, performance stages, costumed “citizens,” and arts and crafts activities for the kids.

The Mardi Gras business is just a themed sheet thrown over what’s really an international food and drink festival. And I can get down with that. Imagine a much more affordable version of Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival, with a much more vibrant street party atmosphere, in a park with LOADS more thrill rides… and you’re getting close.

Depending on your interests, I’m gonna go ahead and say the highlight of the countries will either be the performance stages or the food tents. Let’s start with the former.

The Grand Carnivale has a surprising amount of live music, which is amazing. Each country has its own stage with more or less nonstop performances of culture-specific music and dance. You could easily spend the evening just rotating among the six stages. (And they’re all appropriately spaced apart so the noise doesn’t interfere with one another.)

This is especially welcome in Kings Dominion, which is unfortunately lacking in any other kind of permanent performing arts show or engaging “streetmosphere.”

The food? First, the “good.” For the most part, it’s incredibly delicious. Each country’s tent has two different options, plus a selection of appropriate beer or wine. There’s also a dessert tent with an option specific to each country. You could easily fast the entire day in the park and then satisfy your hunger here. And I wouldn’t blame you one bit.

The “bad,” though, is that it’s not exactly cheap. You can purchase a tasting card (which lets you choose 6 dishes), or each dish can be purchased separately for $6.99. For relatively small, tapas-sized portions, that’s fairly steep. But it’s in line with most theme park prices, so I’ll allow it.

However, the “ugly” was a dealbreaker for us. This might have been due to the employees’ learning curve and an anomaly to the first night of this first-year event, but the lines at the food tents moved at a glacial pace. Three separate times, we got in line with only four or five people in front of us and subsequently left the line about 20 minutes later when no one had moved. I saw a lot of flabbergasted and frustrated cashiers’ faces, so I’m guessing it was first-night hiccups and this will smooth out as the summer goes on.

At 8 pm, the Spectacle of Color parade winds its way through the entire park, and – again – for a first-year event, it’s truly impressive. Multiple large floats, dozens of street performers, and beads beads beads getting thrown everywhere.

The parade ends up at the Eiffel Tower, and the floats are parked on the circular route surrounding the tower for the rest of the evening. The street performers and musicians stay, and the area in front of the main stage then becomes a full-on dance party.

My only real complaint is relatively minor, but it was a big deal to my kids. Both of my kids are total suckers for any kind of scavenger hunt or quest that results in a prize. Kids can pick up a Grand Carnivale passport and collect stamps in each country from costumed characters and “language tutors” who teach a few words in each respective language.

However, there’s also an Adventure Club Challenge booklet that promises so much more. The conceit is that kids approach a carnival ambassador or international character and say hello in the native language of whatever country they’re in. That then kicks off a “secret challenge” that’s different in each country, but the booklet describes each as involving a puzzle, riddle, or hunt. Complete the country’s adventure and earn a stamp. Fill your booklet by completing all the adventures and earn an Adventure Club badge.

Well, this is like crack to my kids. They were excited for it ALL DAY.

Except it didn’t seem to exist. They tried in every country. They said hello in every language to everyone they could find. They even held up the booklet and specifically asked, “What are we supposed to do with this?” No one knew what it was. No one knew anything about the challenges.

Another instance of first-night hiccups? Maybe. But it seriously bummed out the little Roarbots and soured them on the entire festival for a while.

The Grand Carnivale will also be debuting at other Cedar Fair properties this summer, so if you’re closer to Kings Island (Kings Mills, OH), Dorney Park (Allentown, PA), or Worlds of Fun (Kansas City, MO), you might want to make plans to check it out. The festival only lasts a few weeks at each park, but odds are pretty good it’ll be back next summer – and hopefully for a longer stretch of time.