| ||||||||||
Picture the world's biggest, most colourful party, and you will probably have a fair idea of Trinidad's Carnival. This annual pre-Lenten celebration is an explosion of music, dance, incredible costumes and incomparable good cheer.
Today Carnival is a stunning display of colour and creativity, with hundreds of thousands of costumed masqueraders "jumping up" in the streets to the music of steel and brass bands. The festival's French influence can still be traced in the names of some of its component parts:
Carnival celebrations actually start weeks before the event itself, with fetes (parties), competitions, calypso shows and general merriment. Costumes are painstakingly put together in dozens of "mas camps"; and in the pan yards, the steelbands practice nightly. The visitor should not miss the Panorama Steelband competitions; the King and Queen of the Bands competitions at the Dimanche Gras show; or the Children's Carnival, which now takes place on the Saturday preceding the main festival. All of these happen in or around the Savannah. De rigueur is a visit to the Calypso tents, where experienced and neophyte calypsonians create the music that is so crucial to Carnival. Growing out of a tradition of witty, social commentary, the contemporary calypso may be either sardonic in tine or riotously bawdy; its popular, party-oriented cousin is known as soca. A visit to the panyards, where the steelbands translate this music into the sound that keeps thousands of people dancing for hours on end, is also highly recommended. On Carnival Monday and Tuesday, the experience is an unforgettable one. Every street in every city and town, is crowded with celebrants - some costumed, others not. This is a festival that crosses all barriers: age, class, race, and gender. At Carnival, for two brief and glorious days, locals and visitors come together as one, joyously celebrating the Greatest Show on Earth. Carnival Bands | SteelPan | Pan Yards to Visit | Stick Fighting Some information provided courtesy the National Carnival Commission (NCC) of T&T | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Last Modified:
Copyright © 2003-2008. All rights reserved. Disclaimer |