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Carnival of Paris Carnaval de Paris | |
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Status | Active |
Genre | Carnival |
Frequency | Annual |
Location(s) | Paris |
Country | France |
The Paris Carnival (French : Carnaval de Paris) is an annual festival held in Paris, France. The carnival occurs after the Feast of Fools and has been held since the 16th century or earlier, with a long 20th century interregnum.
The Carnival of Paris is a festival with a very long history in the French capital. Nicolas de Baye wrote in his journal in 1411:
"Monday, the 22nd of February, the royal household, in order to observe the Lenten feast, which is tomorrow, will be rising before dawn [to prepare]".
The staying-power of the Carnival of Paris, the elements that have made it an institution for centuries, is based on an unbroken tradition of "festive and carnival societies" (similar to the samba schools in Rio de Janeiro, the mystic societies in Mobile or the krewes of the New Orleans Mardi Gras) and the organized involvement of certain civic groups, corporations, and trade unions. The central role of the working class is illustrated, for example, by an anonymous poem of the eighteenth century:
Always at these kinds of masquerades,
Workers take their special pleasures.
They wail, "We must watch our parades!
This is something we've all treasured!"
Tomorrow we'll return to the usual grind,
When Mardi Gras is, sadly, over,
Food and drink will be hard to find
And we'll do our best to recover.
Workers have always played a central role in the celebrations. What is less known is the fact that the Carnaval de Paris is also, traditionally, the feast of the Paris police. During the nineteenth century, the involvement of butchers, launderers, traders, and students became essential to the liveliness of the Carnival. The variety, the multi-class composition, of the participants is found in carnivals throughout the world. Whether in Dunkirk or Brazil, tradition, organization, and the involvement of diverse segments of the population are essential for the well-being of the party.
Until the early-twentieth century, the Paris Carnival lasted much longer than just the one day, Tuesday of Mardi Gras. In 1690, in his Dictionary, Antoine Furetière wrote these words, which apply also to Paris:
"CARNIVAL, masculine noun: time of rejoicing lasting from Epiphany until Lent. Dances, feasts, and marriages are mainly held at Carnival time."
Sixty-two years later, in 1752, the Encyclopedia of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert confirmed this impression with almost the same words Furetière used. (In fact, so close is the correspondence that, it seems, Furetière might have been Diderot’s source.):
"The carnival begins the day after Epiphany, or the 7th of January, and lasts until Lent. Dances, feasts, and marriages are mainly held during carnival."
However, the Carnaval de Paris has also endured a hiatus; it was interrupted between 1952 and 1997. [1] Even today, many Parisians do not know that the carnival exists. They are also ignorant of the fact that central to the carnival celebration is the appearance of certain traditional characters, stereotypes with distinctive costumes who appear every year, and that there are a number of traditional carnival jokes. These truly "old jokes" have survived from as long ago as the seventeenth century. During the hiatus the words "Carnaval de Paris" were seldom spoken. Parisians were always able to celebrate "Mardi Gras", of course; they simply had to travel to Nice or Rio de Janeiro.
The Carnaval de Paris has inspired great artists. The picture reproduced above was painted by Édouard Manet. It represents the famous masked ball at the Paris opera, which is held during the Carnival. The picture on the right is by Claude Monet, and it shows the Boulevard des Capucines where the processions take place.
At street level, two types of event are traditionally part of the Carnival de Paris: the walk of masks, and the processions.
The walk of masks involves people in disguise in huge numbers, and the curious come to see them, at a given location at a given time. Here's what Dulaure says of this phenomenon in 1787 :
"Rue Saint-Antoine is famous for the prodigious contest of masks held every year on the last day of the carnival, which attracts a large number of the curious."
Other traditional events of the carnival are the parades and processions:
In 1997 the carnival was restarted by the Les Fumantes de Pantruches and Droit à la Culture groups. They are still quite active and hold several events each year - Carnaval de Paris and the Carnaval des Femmes de Paris, [2] of which the poster on this page is an example.
Since 2002 a Carnaval has also been run by MACAQ - the Movement for the Cultural and Artistic Liveliness of the Quarter. [3] There were around 1500 participants in 2007, with 10,000 spectators, which grew to 15,000 participants and 40,000 spectators in 2009, according to the organizers. In 2010 the carnival coincided with Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year, the theme was improbable couples. It set off from Place Gambetta and went via Belleville, where it met the Chinese New Year parade, [4] to République, before arriving at the Hôtel de Ville. [5]
Mardi Gras refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", reflecting the practice of the last night of eating rich, fatty foods before the ritual Lenten sacrifices and fasting of the Lenten season.
Carnival is a Western Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide. Carnival typically involves public celebrations, including events such as parades, public street parties and other entertainments, combining some elements of a circus. Elaborate costumes and masks allow people to set aside their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity. Participants often indulge in excessive consumption of alcohol, meat, and other foods that will be forgone during upcoming Lent. Traditionally, butter, milk, and other animal products were not consumed "excessively", rather, their stock was fully consumed during Shrovetide as to reduce waste. This festival is known for being a time of great indulgence before Lent, with drinking, overeating, and various other activities of indulgence being performed. For example, pancakes, donuts, and other desserts are prepared and eaten for a final time. During Lent, lacticinia and animal products are eaten less, and individuals make a Lenten sacrifice, thus giving up a certain object or activity of desire.
Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day is the day before Ash Wednesday, observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession and absolution, the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms, finalizing one's Lenten sacrifice, as well as eating pancakes and other sweets.
Rex is a New Orleans Carnival Krewe which stages one of the city's most celebrated parades on Mardi Gras Day. Rex is Latin for "King", and Rex reigns as "The King of Carnival".
The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in southern Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, but the season actually begins on King's Day, January 6, and extends until midnight before Ash Wednesday. Club, or Krewe, balls start soon after, though most are extremely private, with their Kings and Queens coming from wealthy old families and their courts consisting of the season's debutantes. Most of the high society Krewes do not stage parades. As Fat Tuesday gets nearer, the parades start in earnest. Usually there is one major parade each day ; many days have several large parades. The largest and most elaborate parades take place the last five days of the Mardi Gras season. In the final week, many events occur throughout New Orleans and surrounding communities, including parades and balls.
Fat Thursday is a Christian tradition in some countries marking the last Thursday before Lent and is associated with the celebration of Carnival. Because Lent is a time of fasting, the days leading up to Ash Wednesday provide the last opportunity for feasting until Easter. Traditionally it is a day dedicated to eating, when people meet in their homes or cafés with their friends and relatives and eat large quantities of sweets, cakes and other meals usually not eaten during Lent. Among the most popular all-national dishes served on that day are pączki in Poland or Berliners, fist-sized donuts filled with rose hip jam, and angel wings (faworki), puff pastry fingers served with powdered sugar.
Shrove Monday, sometimes known as Collopy Monday, Rose Monday, Merry Monday or Hall Monday, is the Monday before Ash Wednesday every year. A part of the English traditional Shrovetide celebrations of the week before Lent, the Monday precedes Shrove Tuesday. As the Monday before Ash Wednesday, it is part of diverse Carnival celebrations which take place in many parts of the Christian world, from Greece, to Germany, to the Mardi Gras and Carnival of the Americas.
Fastelavn is a Carnival tradition in the Northern European, and historically Lutheran, nations of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Latvia, Estonia, Faroe Islands, as well as Greenland.
Mardi Gras is the annual Carnival celebration in Mobile, Alabama. It is the oldest official Carnival celebration in the United States, started by Frenchman Nicholas Langlois in 1703 when Mobile was the capital of Louisiana. Although today New Orleans and South Louisiana celebrations are much more widely known for all the current traditions such as masked balls, parades, floats and throws were first created there. From Mobile being the first capital of French Louisiana (1702), the festival began as a French Catholic tradition. Mardi Gras has now evolved into a mainstream multi-week celebration across the spectrum of cultures, becoming school holidays for the final Monday and Tuesday, regardless of religious affiliation.
The Carnival of Binche is an annual festival held in Binche, Hainaut, Belgium, during the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday.
The Courir de Mardi Gras is a traditional Mardi Gras event held in many Cajun and Creole communities of French Louisiana on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Courir de Mardi Gras is Louisiana French for "Fat Tuesday Run". This rural Mardi Gras celebration is based on early begging rituals, similar to those still celebrated by mummers, wassailers, and celebrants of Halloween. As Mardi Gras is the celebration of the final day before Lent, celebrants drink and eat heavily, dressing in specialized costumes, ostensibly to protect their identities. In Acadiana, popular practices include wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, drinking alcohol, begging, trail riding, feasting, and whipping. Mardi Gras is one of the few occasions when people are allowed to publicly wear masks in Louisiana. Dance for a Chicken: The Cajun Mardi Gras, a documentary by filmmaker Pat Mire, provides great insight into the history and evolution of this cultural tradition. In popular culture, two HBO series also make reference to the tradition.
A mystic society is a Mardi Gras social organization in Mobile, Alabama, that presents parades and/or balls for the enjoyment of its members, guests, and the public. The New Orleans Krewe is patterned after Mobile's Mystics. The societies have been based in class, economic and racial groups. Mobile's parading mystic societies build colorful Carnival floats and create costumes around each year's themes.
Mardi Gras in the United States is not observed nationally across the country, largely due to the country's Protestant and Anglo-Saxon roots. Mardi Gras and Carnival are mostly Catholic holidays, while the United States has a Protestant-majority population. However, a number of cities and regions in the U.S. have notable Mardi Gras or Carnival celebrations. Most of these places trace their Mardi Gras celebrations to French, Spanish, and other Catholic colonial influences on the settlements over their history. The earliest Carnival celebration in North America occurred at a place on the west bank of the Mississippi River about 60 miles (97 km) downriver from where New Orleans is today; this Mardi Gras on March 3, 1699, and in honor of this holiday, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, a 38-year-old French Canadian, named the spot Point du Mardi Gras near Fort Jackson. The earliest organized Carnival celebrations occurred in Mobile, then the capitol of French Louisiana known as Fort Louis de la Mobile, where in 1704 the first known Carnival secret society. In 1856, six Mobile natives established the first secret society, or krewe, in New Orleans, the Mistick Krewe of Comus. Former French and Spanish colonies such as Pensacola, Biloxi, and settlements along the Gulf Coast all followed suit in incorporating Carnival into their annual celebrations, which today have developed either separate traditions or variations of them from one another. In addition, modern activities generally vary from city to city across the U.S.
A variety of customs and traditions are associated with Carnival celebrations in the German-speaking countries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. They can vary considerably from country to country, but also from one small region to another. This is reflected in the various names given to these festivities occurring before Lent.
Haitian Carnival is a celebration held over several weeks each year leading up to Mardi Gras. Haitian Defile Kanaval is the Haitian Creole name of the main annual Mardi Gras carnival held in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Carnival in the Netherlands is a festival held mainly in the Southern and Eastern regions of the Netherlands with an emphasis on role-reversal and the suspension of social norms, as part of celebrations of Carnival. The feast was assimilated by the Catholic Church, taking elements from ancient pagan spring festivals and is celebrated in the three days preceding the Christian holidays of Ash Wednesday and Lent.
Slavic carnivals are known under different names in various Slavic countries: Macedonian: Прочка, romanized: Pročka; Bulgarian: Сирни заговезни, Прошка, Поклади, romanized: Sirni zagovezni, Proshka, Pokladi; Russian: Масленица, Мясопуст, romanized: Maslenitsa, Myasopust; Polish: Ostatki, Mięsopust, Zapusty; Czech: Masopust, Šibřinky, Ostatky; Slovak: Fašiangy; Slovene: Mesopȗst, Pust, Pustni teden, Fašnk; Serbian: Покладе, Проћка / Poklade, Proćka; Croatian: Pust, Poklade, Mesopust, Fašnik. They are traditional Slavic festivals related to the period of carnival.
Carnival in Goa, also called "Carnaval", "Intruz", "Entrado", or (colloquially) "Viva Carnival" refers to the festival of carnival, or Mardi Gras, in the Indian state of Goa. Though significantly smaller than the well-known Rio Carnival or the Portuguese Carnival of Madeira, the Goa Carnival is the largest in India and one of the few traditional celebrations of the Western Christian holiday in Asia. The current version of the Goa Carnival was modelled after the Rio Carnival by a local musician named Timoteo Fernandes and imposed in 1965 to attract tourists. It has since turned into a major tourist attraction for the small state.
The Carnival of Cayenne is an annual event held in Cayenne, French Guiana. Alongside the Kourou Carnival and the Saint-Laurent Carnival, it is one of the most significant carnivals in the region.