T&T Carnival 101
Where did it come from? What happens when? Mirissa De Four offers a beginner’s guide
Trinidad & Tobago’s Carnival has emerged from a rich and varied history that began in the late eighteenth century, with an influx of French planters, freed coloureds and Africans. The planters also brought with them their cultural traditions, including the practice of holding masquerades in the months leading up to Lent.
The early Carnival celebrations were dominated by the white elite, since Africans and coloured people were forbidden by law to take part in street festivities. This all changed when the slaves were emancipated in the 1830s, as they could now openly take part in the revelry, and so took the opportunity to mock their former colonial masters.
It’s from these beginnings that steelband, calypso, and stickfighting – important aspects of the Carnival tradition – were born, while the other remnants of Carnival’s beginnings are seen in the aptly named ole mas (masquerade) which comes alive during J’Ouvert, the pre-dawn hours of Carnival Monday. That’s when onlookers in downtown Port of Spain can see the traditional characters, the Dame Lorraines, Jab Jabs, minstrels, Jab Molassies, bats, Midnight Robbers and blue devils. Other old-time aspects of the mas are still part of the mainstream, so you’ll find mas bands that portray fancy Indians and sailors on Carnival Monday and Tuesday.
In Trinidad & Tobago, the Carnival season unofficially begins on December 26. It picks up speed from January, especially when it’s a short season (the date of Carnival varies each year).
With Carnival 2012 scheduled to take place on February 20 and 21 this year, mas bands started launching their collections of costumes last July, with some bands selling out sections within days. Others were still launching their sections in October and early November. But latecomers can still hope to snag a costume on Carnival Sunday, as there are always last-minute cancellations.
Carnival isn’t just about the mas on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. In the lead-up to those two days of revelry, there are various music competitions, fetes (parties), kaiso (calypso) tents, Steelband Panorama semi-finals and finals, Dimanche Gras and J’Ouvert.
Carnival calendar
January: Panorama prelims and semi-finals throughout the country
February 9: Kings & Queens preliminaries Queen’s Park Savannah
February 11: Calypso Fiesta Skinner Park, San Fernando
February 11: Red Cross Kiddies Carnival Queen’s Park Savannah
February 13: Junior Calypso Monarch Finals Queen’s Park Savannah
February 17: Re-enactment of the Camboulay Riots Piccadilly Greens, Port of Spain
February 17: International Soca Monarch contest
February 18: Panorama Finals Queen’s Park Savannah
February 19: Dimanche Gras: Calypso Monarch and King and Queen finals Queen’s Park Savannah
For up-to-date information on Carnival events, mas bands and music, visit: Trinidad Carnival Diary www.trinidadcarnivaldiary.com • Carnival Jumbie carnivaljumbie.blogspot.com
For the fete set
Jan 8 Soka in Moka Trinity College, Maraval
Jan 14 Island People Yeah O2 Park, Chaguaramas
Outta De Blue QRC, St Clair
Jan 20 St Francois Girls’ College All-inclusive Port of Spain
Jan 21 Bishop Anstey All-inclusive Port of Spain
Fire Fete The Paddock, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain
Jan 22 Zangalewa…it’s Time for Africa: UWI All-Inclusive St Augustine
Bel Air All-inclusive Boujoix, La Romaine
Jan 27 Ladies First Pier 1, Chaguaramas
Jan 28 Fete with the Saints Pembroke Street, Port of Spain
Blue Flame All-inclusive Blue Range Courts
Jan 29 Boujoix: the Air Experience Bel Air Recreation Grounds
Feb 4 Central Bank All-inclusive Independence Square, Port of Spain
Côté Ci, Côté La: Republic Bank All-inclusive Republic Bank Sports Grounds, Barataria
Feb 5 Karambouly Kreations: Ah Favour T&T Twin Walls Compound, La Romaine
Feb 10 Army Fete Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain
Misty Ridge All-inclusive Hadeed Ranch
Feb 11 Kama Sutra Country Club, Maraval
Campus Carnival St Augustine
AS Bryden All-inclusive Centre of Excellence, Macoya
Yorke Carnival Fete Mendez Drive
Feb 12 Friends to the Max All-inclusive Queen’s Park Oval
Feb 13 PNM Fete Tranquillity Street, Port of Spain
Feb 14 Zante Chaguaramas
Feb 15 Ready Yuhself – Lime 2012 Hyatt Regency Hotel, Wrightson Road
Feb 16 Escape to the Sanctuary Salybia
Feb 17 Privilege Rise All-inclusive Moka, Maraval
Blue Range Cooler Fete Diego Martin
Feb 18 Trini Posse Fete Bowen Marine Hangar, Chaguaramas
Insomnia Mobs2
Dawn, Sunrise in the City Jenny’s Carpark, Cipriani Boulevard
Feb 19 Sunny Side Up Breakfast Party Palm Avenue West, Petit Valley
Brian Lara All-inclusive Chancellor Hill, Queen’s Park
Harvard Club All-inclusive St James
Mania 2012 Country Club, Maraval
Shades Breakfast Party Hadeed Ranch
Dancing in the Sanctuary All-inclusive Windsor Road, Valsayn
Cotton Tree Foundation All-inclusive Spanish Acres
David Wears
Chutney Soca spices up T&T Carnival
On Carnival Monday and Tuesday and at all the fetes (parties), whether all-inclusive (where food and drink is included in the ticket price) or not, music is what keeps Trinidadians and Tobagonians moving, in the blazing hot sun or till the wee hours of the morning. Music is such an integral aspect of Carnival that there are numerous competitions – Power Soca Monarch, Groovy Soca Monarch, Calypso Monarch and Chutney Soca Monarch – all in search of the best artiste of the different genres.
Chutney soca is a fusion of soca (which itself has roots in calypso) and a combination of Hindi and English lyrics. The National Chutney Soca Monarch finals, organised by Southex Events Management Company, are scheduled for February 11 in the Queen’s Park Savannah. This year, the competition is being rebranded, with new two rules being introduced: only songs with original melodies and lyrics will be allowed to compete, and songs will be screened for positive lyrics.
For more information, visit www.southex.co.tt or call (868) 653 8923
Mirissa De Four
Barbados marks its British beginnings
Holetown in Barbados lays claim to a series of firsts, and it was certainly one of the first settled towns in the English-speaking Caribbean. English settlers landed in Barbados in February 1627. In 1977 Alfred Pragnell, together with members of Trents Northern Youth Group, decided to celebrate this event, giving birth to the Holetown Festival.
The festival is usually held between February 17 and 20, to coincide with that first landing. The free week-long event includes concerts, parades and a street market where vendors offer a range of Barbadian arts and crafts, along with local cuisine. The festival is well attended by Barbadians and foreigners alike, with some visitors planning their entire visit around the eight-day event.
For more information: www.visitbarbados.org
Round and round with Mount Gay Rum
Alene Krimholtz, membership secretary of the Barbados Cruising Club, organisers of the race, says the Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race is one of the oldest Caribbean regattas. “It was first held in 1936 as a race between trading schooners competing for ‘bragging rights’ for being the fastest.”
But the consolation prize, a barrel of Mount Gay Rum, had to be discontinued after boats began competing for it – prolonging the race for days.
Today the race is held annually on January 21, a public holiday that honours the first Prime Minister of Barbados, Errol Barrow.
This year, the programme includes an optional warm-up race two days before the main Round Barbados race, extending the full programme to five days for the first time.
It isn’t just about the racing: there is the ceremonial skippers’ weigh-in (“Record-breaking yachts have the chance to win the skipper’s weight in Mount Gay Rum Extra Old,” explains Krimholz), and a Mount Gay Rum tour, as well as lots of parties.
For more information: www.mountgayrumroundbarbadosrace.com
Mirissa De Four
Montserrat – back without a bang
Montserrat’s Soufrière volcano lay dormant for centuries, but in 1995 that changed dramatically.
For three years there had been earthquake activity—but then came phreatic explosions of steam and ash, and, in August 1995, an ash cloud blanketed the island’s capital, Plymouth, in darkness. Southern Montserrat had to be evacuated, and the following year, Plymouth was abandoned. It now lies buried under layers of volcanic debris deposited by pyroclastic activity and mudflows – each time it rains in “the Emerald Isle”, a little more of the former capital disappears forever.
In 1997, pyroclastic flows swept down the northeastern flanks of the volcano, and the airport was lost. By that time, more than half of Montserrat’s inhabitants had been moved away after their homes and businesses were destroyed. Since then, an exclusion zone around the volcano has been put in place. It covers the southeast sector of the island and extends four miles offshore.
Montserrat’s tourist industry, however, is undergoing a revival. As well as beaches, dive sites, and hiking in lush green hills, the island now has a very unusual attraction – views of an active volcano, from safe vantage points. The Soufrière volcano has become the island’s biggest draw.
You can see it from the Volcano Observatory in Flemming, the Garibaldi Hill, Jack Boy Hill, or book a boat tour. Volcano tours are offered by members of the Montserrat Tour & Taxi Association, and can be booked through one of Montserrat’s tour operators based in Antigua and Montserrat or directly upon arrival with one of the taxi members at your port of entry.
For more information: www.visitmontserrat.com or www.mvo.ms
Guyana marks Mashramani
Mashramani is an Amerindian word for a celebration held to mark the successful completion of a collective endeavour. It’s also the name of the festival with which Guyana celebrates the anniversary of becoming a republic in 1970.
In the tradition of the great Caribbean and South American carnivals, the Mashramani festival in February includes costume and float parades, pan and calypso competitions, as well as embracing and promoting chutney music, traditional folk ceremonies, and children’s cultural presentations.
There are also more cerebral activities: republic anniversary debates, literary exhibitions, school essay-writing contests and lectures presented by the University of Guyana. February 23, Guyana’s Republic Day, also commemorates the 1763 Berbice Slave Rebellion, one of the most significant of the eighteenth century. Hence the reflections, analyses and discussions.
The other Mashramani events throughout Guyana’s ten administrative and geographical regions, however, are carnival-type occasions, with the added attraction that many of them are staged in interior mining towns, rainforest locations and riverain communities.
This year, emphasis will be placed on educational awareness, through workshops and public discussions, of culture and its importance to national development, and the achievements and the significance of Guyana’s republican status.
“MASH” 2012, whose theme is “We Mashin’ with Pride; Keeping We Tradition Alive”, will showcase Guyana’s unique diversity.
For more information: e-mail mashsecretariat@gmail.com or visit www.mcys.gov.gy
Calendar of Events
Junior Calypso Competition January 28
Folk Concert February 1
Mashramani Exhibition February 3 – 29
Calypso Finals February 17
Children’s Parade February 18
Chutney Finals February 18
Steelband Competition February 19
Republic Anniversary Flag-Raising Ceremony February 23, early morning, immediately followed by the Costume and Float Parade
Island Hopper
Bermuda Regional Bridge Tournament
When: January 21 – 27
Where: The Fairmont Southampton, Bermuda
What: A chance to win some rubbers, while also enjoying a black-tie charity game, a gala banquet and dance, and lectures from experts
For more information: e-mail info@bermudaregional.com
9th Bequia Mount Gay Music Festival
When: January 26 – 29
Where: Bequia
What: The festival includes the Mustique Blues Festival for one night only – January 27
For more information: contact Bequia Tourism Association at
(784) 458 3286 or e-mail bequiatourism@vincysurf.com
Workboat Regatta
When: February 3 – 5
Where: Grenada
What: The second half of the Grenada Sailing Festival, where wooden boats with bamboo rigging race off Grand Anse Beach
For more information: visit www.grenadasailingfestival.com
Panache Jamaica Beauty Conference & Expo 2012
When: February 12
Where: Kingston
What: All things beauty-related will be on display – cosmetics, fragrances and products for hair, skin and nail care
For more information: visit www.jamaicabeautyexpo.com
Tobago Carnival Regatta
When: February 24 – 26
Where: Pigeon Point Heritage Park, Tobago
What: Kite boarders and windsurfers are among participants in this “festival of wind”
For more information: visit www.tobagocarnivalregatta.com
Third Around St Maarten – St Martin Multihull Regatta
When: February 25
Where: St Maarten/St Martin
What: Multihulls and beach cats sail around the island
For more information: call +599580 8111 or
e-mail info@multihullregatta.com
