The Carnival of the Animals on 2 April at the home of Pauline Viardot with an audience including Franz Liszt, a friend of the composer, who had expressed a wish to hear the work. There were other private performances, typically for the French mid-Lent festival of , but Saint-Saëns was adamant that the work would not be published in his lifetime, seeing it as detracting from his "serious" composer image. He relented only for the famous cello solo "The Swan", which forms the penultimate movement of the work, and which was published in 1887 in an arrangement by the composer for cello and solo piano
Carnival in Mexico celebrations in the state of Morelos are generally family-oriented affairs. The best known Carnival in the state of Morelos is in Tlayacapan, noted for its Chinelos dancers. This dance was created as a way for the indigenous to ridicule their Spanish overlords. Other communities with significant Carnival celebrations include Jiutepec, Emiliano Zapata, Xochitepec, Tlaltizapán, Tepoztlán and Yautepec. The Carnival of Pinotepa de Don Luis in the state of Oaxaca is notable for its use of satire especially related to matrimony and sometimes divorce using a dance called Tejorones. Costumes include various masks, depictions animals such as doves, and tiger hunts.