Carnival or Shrovetide is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras.
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.
Slinger Francisco ORTT CM OBE, better known as Mighty Sparrow, is a Trinidadian calypso vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist. Known as the "Calypso King of the World", he is one of the best-known and most successful calypsonians. He has won Trinidad's Carnival Road March competition eight times, Calypso King/Monarch eight times, and has twice won the Calypso King of Kings title.
The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual Caribbean Carnival event that has taken place in London since 1966 on the streets of the Notting Hill area of Kensington, over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
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.
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.
The music of Saint Kitts and Nevis is known for a number of musical celebrations including Carnival. The last week in June features the St Kitts Music Festival, while the week-long Culturama on Nevis lasts from the end of July into early August.
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 Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an annual event held on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in Trinidad and Tobago. 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. Traditionally, the festival is associated with calypso music, developed by enslaved West and Central Africans in 17th century Trinidad; however, Soca music has begun to replace calypso as the more popular musical genre for Carnival. Costume, stick-fighting, limbo, and steelpan competitions are important components of the festival.
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 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.
Eastern Parkway is a major east–west boulevard in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, it was built between 1870 and 1874 and has been credited as the world's first parkway. At the time of its construction, Eastern Parkway extended to the eastern edge of the then-independent city of Brooklyn.
Beryl Eugenia McBurnie OBE was a Trinidadian dancer. She established the Little Carib Theatre in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, and promoted the culture and arts of Trinidad and Tobago as her life's work. She helped to promote the cultural legitimacy of Trinidad and Tobago that would shift the country into the age independence. McBurnie dedicated her life to dance, becoming one of the greatest influences on modern Trinidadian pop culture.
Cletus Ali, better known as Mighty Dougla, was a Trinidadian calypsonian who won the island's Calypso King title in 1961.
Franklyn McIntosh is a St Vincent-born pianist and arranger of calypso and soca music. He is recognized as one of the pioneer music arrangers who helped usher in the soca style of West Indian popular music in the 1970s and 1980s.
