This article combines ethnographic research and debates on cultural activism to challenge canonical views on carnival by positioning the festivity’s sonic dimension as an active force of placemaking that extends beyond the official timeframe of carnival. The paper centres on Cádiz, a Spanish city that celebrates one of the oldest and most influential carnivals of Southern Europe. Cádiz’s carnival is famous for the inventiveness of carnival groups made of local citizens who gather every year and dedicate months to prepare an original music repertoire. Seeking to expand our understanding of contemporary carnival, this article looks at how carnival in Cádiz has provided ground for a radical understanding of citizenship and political agency against neoliberal appropriations of the public space, as evident in the increasing weight of surveillance and gentrification. This article argues that carnival music provides a platform for radical ways of mobilising creativity to redefine placemaking.