Carnival | |
---|---|
Observed by | Trinidad and Tobago |
Type | Cultural |
Significance | Week before Lent |
Celebrations | processions, music, dancing, and the use of masquerade |
Date | Monday and Tuesday before Lent |
Frequency | Annual |
Related to | Caribbean Carnival, Mardi Gras, Carnival, Shrove Monday, Ash Wednesday, Lent |
The Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an annual event held on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in Trinidad and Tobago. [1] This event is well known for participants' colorful costumes and exuberant celebrations. There are numerous cultural events such as "band launch" fetes running in the lead up to the street parade on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. [2] [3] [4] Traditionally, the festival is associated with calypso music, developed by enslaved West and Central Africans in 17th century Trinidad; [5] [6] however, Soca music has begun to replace calypso as the more popular musical genre for Carnival. [1] Costume (sometimes called "mas"), stick-fighting, limbo, and steelpan competitions are important components of the festival. [7] [8] [9]
Carnival, as it is celebrated in Trinidad and Tobago, has spread to many other Caribbean islands as well as several cities worldwide. These celebrations include Toronto's Caribana, Miami's Miami Carnival, Houston Carifest, London's Notting Hill Carnival, as well as New York City's Labor Day Carnival.
The annual Carnival in Trinidad dates back to the 1780s, when an influx of immigrants from the French West Indies emigrated to Trinidad in response to the Cédula de Población. [10] [11] [12] These immigrants included French planters and 'free coloureds' (free people of mixed race), [13] [11] [14] as well as enslaved Africans. [12] [10] The Mas tradition started in the late 18th century with French plantation owners organizing masquerades (mas) and balls before enduring the fasting of Lent. [13] Enslaved Africans, who could not take part in Carnival. [13] They are said to have staged their own mini-carnivals, but using their own rituals and folklore [10] and imitating or mocking their masters' masquerade balls. [15] [16]
Enslaved Africans also formed parallel celebration called "Canboulay". Canboulay (from the French cannes brulés, meaning burnt cane) [17] The festival was characterized by drums, singing, calinda dancing, chanting, and stick-fighting. [18] [19] [17] [20] Canboulay is considered is a precursor to Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, and has played an important role in the development of the music of Trinidad and Tobago.
Calypso music was developed in Trinidad in the 17th century from the West African Kaiso and canboulay music brought by African slaves imported to that Caribbean island to work on sugar plantations. These slaves, brought to toil on sugar plantations, were stripped of all connections to their homeland and family and not allowed to talk to each other. They used calypso to mock the slave masters and to communicate with each other. Many early calypsos were sung in French Creole by an individual called a griot. As calypso developed, the role of the griot became known as a chantuelle and eventually, calypsonian. [21] Additional traditions were introduced to Trinidad by enslaved Africans during the 18th century. These include the calinda, a form of martial art involving stick-fighting. [22] The calinda is likely of African origin, and is accompanied by music and dancing. [23] [22]
In 1833, the British government passed the Slavery Abolition Act, and Emancipation took effect August 1, 1834. [24] [25] After Emancipation, freed Africans first celebrated their freedom on 1 August the anniversary of their emancipation, and soon began celebrating emancipation during the Carnival season. As part of this transformation, they started carrying burning sugarcane in celebration of Canboulay. The carnival soon featured dancing by men and women in masks.
During the mid- and late-1800s, the colonial government tried various ways to suppress Carnival and Carnival festivities. [26] These prohibitions resulted in civil disorder, including the Canboulay riots of 1881 and 1884. [27] [28] [29] In 1884, the colonial government passed the Peace Preservation Act , [30] in an attempt to prevent violence breaking out during the Carnival. The Act prohibited public carrying of torches, drumming, blowing horns, and stick-fighting (or the assembly of ten or more people with sticks). [30] It also established the official start of Carnival as 6:00 A.M. (the Monday before Lent). [31] [32]
Steelpan
Stick fighting and African percussion music were banned in 1881, in response to the Canboulay Riots. They were replaced by bamboo "Bamboo-Tamboo" sticks beaten together, which were themselves banned in turn. In 1937 they reappeared, transformed as an orchestra of frying pans, dustbin lids and oil drums. These steelpans (or pans) are now a major part of the Trinidadian music scene and are a popular section of the Canboulay music contests. In 1941, the United States Navy arrived on Trinidad, and the panmen, who were associated with lawlessness and violence, helped to popularize steel pan music among soldiers, which began its international popularization.
J'ouvert
J'ouvert (translated from French as "break of day") symbolizes the start of the official two days of Carnival. [33] Beginning early Monday, revelers parade through town in the tradition of the Canboulay celebrations. [34] [35] "Jouvay" (as it is commonly pronounced and spelled) [33] features a variety of homemade or satirical costumes. [36] [37] [38] The celebration involves participants dousing themselves in oil, mud, and powder, [39] [40] [41] and dancing to calypso and soca music through the streets. [42] [43] This is a stark contrast to the attractive and more formal costumes that are donned later in the day on Carnival Monday and on Tuesday. [44]
The table shows a list of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival dates from 2009 to 2026. [45] [46]
Calendar Year | Carnival Monday | Carnival Tuesday |
---|---|---|
2009 | February 23 | February 24 |
2010 | February 15 | February 16 |
2011 | March 7 | March 8 |
2012 | February 20 | February 21 |
2013 | February 11 | February 12 |
2014 | March 3 | March 4 |
2015 | February 16 | February 17 |
2016 | February 8 | February 9 |
2017 | February 27 | February 28 |
2018 | February 12 | February 13 |
2019 | March 4 | March 5 |
2020 | February 24 | February 25 |
2021 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 [47] | |
2022 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 | |
2023 | February 20 | February 21 |
2024 | February 12 | February 13 |
2025 | March 3 | March 4 |
2026 | February 16 | February 17 |
A few specific characters have evolved during the history of Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival. [7] Among these characters are:
Soca music is a genre of music defined by Ras Shorty I, its inventor, as the "Soul of Calypso", which has influences of African and East Indian rhythms. It was originally spelled "sokah" by its inventor but through an error in a local newspaper when reporting on the new music it was erroneously spelled "soca"; Lord Shorty confirmed the error but chose to leave it that way to avoid confusion. It is a genre of music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the early 1970s and developed into a range of styles during the 1980s and after. Soca was initially developed by Lord Shorty in an effort to revive traditional calypso, the popularity of which had been flagging amongst younger generations in Trinidad due to the rise in popularity of reggae from Jamaica and soul and funk from the United States. Soca is an offshoot of calypso/kaiso, with influences from East Indian rhythms and hooks.
Calypso is a style of Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the early to mid-19th century and spread to the rest of the Caribbean Antilles by the mid-20th century. Its rhythms can be traced back to West African Kaiso and the arrival of French planters and their slaves from the French Antilles in the 18th century.
The music of Trinidad and Tobago is best known for its calypso music, soca music, chutney music, and steelpan. Calypso's internationally noted performances in the 1950s from native artists such as Lord Melody, Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow. The art form was most popularised at that time by Harry Belafonte. Along with folk songs and African- and Indian-based classical forms, cross-cultural interactions have produced other indigenous forms of music including soca, rapso, parang, chutney, and other derivative and fusion styles. There are also local communities which practice and experiment with international classical and pop music, often fusing them with local steelpan instruments.
A calypsonian, originally known as a chantwell, is a musician from the anglophone Caribbean who sings songs of the calypso genre.
The steelpan is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists.
The music of the Lesser Antilles encompasses the music of this chain of small islands making up the eastern and southern portion of the West Indies. Lesser Antillean music is part of the broader category of Caribbean music; much of the folk and popular music is also a part of the Afro-American musical complex, being a mixture of African, European and indigenous American elements. The Lesser Antilles' musical cultures are largely based on the music of African slaves brought by European traders and colonizers. The African musical elements are a hybrid of instruments and styles from numerous West African tribes, while the European slaveholders added their own musics into the mix, as did immigrants from India. In many ways, the Lesser Antilles can be musically divided based on which nation colonized them.
J'ouvert is a traditional Carnival celebration in many countries throughout the Caribbean. The parade is believed to have its foundation in Trinidad & Tobago, with roots steeped in French Afro-Creole traditions such as Canboulay. J'ouvert typically begins in the early morning, before dawn, and peaks by mid-morning. The celebration involves calypso or soca bands, DJs, and their followers dancing through the streets. In many countries, revelers cover their bodies in paint, mud, or pitch oil. Today J'ouvert is also a part of Carnival celebrations outside of the Caribbean, with the biggest celebrations happening in cities with large Caribbean ex-pat communities.
The Toronto Caribbean Carnival, formerly and affectionately known as Caribana, is a festival of Caribbean culture and traditions held each summer in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a pan-Caribbean Carnival event and has been billed as North America's largest Festival, frequented by over 1.3 million tourists each year for the festival's Grand Parade and an overall attendance of 2.3 million.
Rapso is a form of Trinidadian music that grew out of the social unrest of the 1970s. Black Power and unions grew in the 1970s, and rapso grew along with them. The first recording was Blow Away by Lancelot Layne in 1970. Six years later, Cheryl Byron was scorned when she sang rapso at a calypso tent; she is now called the "Mother of Rapso".
The music of Antigua and Barbuda is largely African in character, and has only felt a limited influence from European styles due to the population of Antigua and Barbuda descending mostly from West Africans who were made slaves by Europeans.
The Canboulay riots were a series of disturbances in the British colony of Trinidad in 1881 and 1884. The riots came about in response to efforts by the colonial police to restrict aspects of the island's annual Carnival festival. In Port of Spain, San Fernando, and Princes Town, angered Trinidadians rioted in response to the actions of police. The violence of the Canboulay Riots resulted in many injuries, as well as fatalities. As a result of the riots, new government restrictions placed on Canboulay traditions. New musical instruments and styles were created in reaction to these prohibitions, which influenced the development of calypso and later soca. Additionally, the pre-carnival tradition of J'ouvert originates with Canboulay and the Canboulay Riots.
The culture of Trinidad and Tobago reflects the influence of Indian-South Asian, African, Indigenous, European, Chinese, North American, Latino, and Arab cultures. The histories of Trinidad and Tobago are different. There are differences in the cultural influences which have shaped each island. Trinidad and Tobago is an English-speaking country with strong links to the United Kingdom.
The culture of Dominica is formed by the inhabitants of the Commonwealth of Dominica. Dominica is home to a wide range of people. Although it was historically occupied by several native tribes, it was the Taíno and Island Caribs (Kalinago) tribes that remained by the time European settlers reached the island. "Massacre" is a name of a river dedicated to the murders of the native villagers by both French and British settlers, because the river "ran red with blood for days." Each claimed the island and imported slaves from Africa. The remaining Caribs now live on a 3,700-acre (15 km2) Carib Territory on the east coast of the island. They elect their own chief.
Canboulay is a precursor to Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. The festival is also where calypso music has its roots. It was originally a harvest festival, at which drums, singing, dancing and chanting were an integral part. After Emancipation (1834), it developed into an outlet and a festival for former indentured laborers and freed slaves who were banned from participating in the masquerade carnival events – derived from European Christian traditions – of the colonial elite, and whose drums and religious observances were also outlawed in the late 19th century. Consequently, Canboulay has played an important role in the development of the music of Trinidad and Tobago, for it was the banning of percussion instruments in the 1880s that led to the surreptitious innovations that gave birth to steelpan music. It is re-enacted in Port of Spain each Carnival Friday in Trinidad.
Calinda is a martial art, as well as a kind of folk music and war dance in the Caribbean which arose in the 1720s. It was brought to the Caribbean by Africans In the transatlantic slave trade and is based on native African combat dances.
As early as the 1780s, the word kaiso was used to describe a French creole song and, in Trinidad, kaiso seems to have been perfected by the chantwells during the first half of the 19th century. The chantwells, assisted by alternating in call-and-response style with a chorus, were a central component of the practice called Calinda (stick-fighting).
The Antiguan Carnival is a celebration of emancipation from slavery, held annually on the island of Antigua. It is a thirteen-day festival of colorful costumes, beauty pageants, talent shows, and music. The festival begins in late July and ends the first Tuesday in August, known as Carnival Tuesday. Both Carnival Monday and Carnival Tuesday are public holidays on the island. Antiguan Carnival replaced the Old Time Christmas Festival in 1957, with hopes of inspiring tourism in Antigua and Barbuda. Some elements of the Old Time Christmas Festival remain in the modern Carnival celebrations.
Chanté mas and Lapo kabrit is a form of Carnival music of Dominica. It is performed by masquerading partygoers in a two-day parade, with a lead vocalist (chantwèl), who is followed by the responsorial chorus (lavwa), with drummers and dancers dancing backwards in front of the drummer on a tambou lélé. The Carnival has African and French roots and is otherwise known as Mas Dominik, the most original Carnival in the Caribbean.