Trinidad Carnival

Trinidad Carnival is the origin point for carnival traditions across the Caribbean and beyond, and it takes over the country entirely on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. The build-up runs for weeks through fetes, panyards where steelbands rehearse for the Panorama competition, and calypso and soca monarch contests. J'ouvert begins in darkness on the Monday, with crowds covering themselves and each other in mud, oil and paint until sunrise. Then the mas bands take the streets in full costume for two days of dancing behind music trucks. Steelpan itself was invented here, and Panorama is its world championship.

History

Carnival came with French West Indian settlers in the 1780s, whose pre-Lent masquerades and balls the enslaved Africans parodied in their own versions. After emancipation took effect on 1 August 1834, freed Africans made Carnival their own, carrying burning cane in the Canboulay processions; colonial attempts to suppress it led to the Canboulay riots of 1881 and 1884, and the 1884 Peace Preservation Act banned torches, drumming and stick-fighting and fixed the start at 6 a.m. on the Monday before Lent. The steelpan was born in 1937, after bamboo "tamboo-bamboo" sticks were banned, from frying pans, dustbin lids and oil drums (Wikipedia, Trinidad and Tobago Carnival).

Highlights

• J'ouvert - the pre-dawn mud and paint procession on Carnival Monday.
• Panorama - the national steelband championship in the weeks before.
• The mas bands - costumed masqueraders parading Monday and Tuesday.
• Panyards - open steelband rehearsals in the run-up, free to attend.

When to go

Carnival falls the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, so February or early March depending on the year. The season starts after Christmas and builds through January. Flights and accommodation book out months in advance and prices climb steeply.

Practical notes

Playing mas means buying into a band, and costumes range from moderate to very expensive with all-inclusive drinks and security. It is not a spectator event in spirit - watching from the sidelines gives a fraction of the experience. Crowds are enormous, heat is severe and hydration matters. J'ouvert paint ruins clothing permanently, which is the intention. Book everything absurdly early.

Nearby

Panyards across Port of Spain, the Queen's Park Savannah stage and every town's own carnival.