Carnival: an Introduction

Carnival evolved from the collision of cultures in the Americas
between European colonisers and enslaved West Africans.  It
presented opportunity for the enslaved to reclaim public space as a
statement of presence as an act of political protest as well as an
artistic celebration.  Today, carnival is a celebration of life and can be
found in many countries across the world.  

Many commentators believe Carnival’s influence dates back to the
middle ages when many European countries celebrated religious
festivities.  The Feast of Fools, for example, a popular festival amongst
the clergy, took place before Lent and is thought to have involved
parody and buffoonery of religious authority by younger members of
the clergy.  In the European Christian tradition, the word "carnaval"
has been linked to "goodbye to the flesh", which refers to the 40 days
preceding the Catholic season of Lent.  During this time, Christians,
and in particular Catholics were not allowed to eat meat and as such
days before Lent were periods of abandon, indulgence and an
escape from societal rigidity.
Carnival developed in Italy during the 16th Century where
masquerade balls were popular and people wore masks and
costumes.  Carnivals in Italy became famous and the practice spread
to France, Spain, and all the Catholic countries in Europe.  As the
French, Spanish, and Portuguese began to take control of the
Americas and other parts of the world, they brought with them their
tradition of celebrating carnival.  Slaves shipped from West Africa
were often permitted to carry out their traditions of story telling,
drumming and dance.  With the abolition of slavery in the early 19th
century it was only to be expected that the expression of celebration
would follow on from new found freedom.

As Catholicism spread throughout Europe, so did the traditions of
Carnival.  In France, Mardi Gras developed as the celebration on the
Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.  In Central Europe the tradition of
drowning a doll (symbolising bad luck, illness and death) developed. 
In England, where Catholicism was stunted, festivities of a
Carnivalesque nature were incorporated into pagan rituals. 

In Trinidad, carnival started as masked balls in the colonial houses.  This
developed into a stronger African influence through Cannes Brulees,
a burning of the sugar cane celebration where plantation workers
were allowed to walk to neighbouring plantations to help with the
work.  Carnival in Brazil, under Portuguese colonial rule was an established 
annual event.  The Portuguese settlers allowed the African community to 
join in with the celebrations.  

Carnival in UK
Carnival in the UK is an artform that embraces a variety of cultures, art
forms and disciplines.  Its main influence come from the historical,
traditional English carnival style as well as a strong presence from
Caribbean carnival.  Brazilian carnival tradition features regularly in
carnivals across the UK and a Brazilian style carnival celebration now
takes place annually in London.  

The English style carnivals of Bridgwater and the Isle of Wight have
histories dating back four hundred years.  Caribbean style carnivals in
the UK such as Birmingham, St Paul’s, Notting Hill, Leeds and
Huddersfield boast histories of forty years. 

Participation is a major part of the cycle of activity undertaken by
most carnivals and carnival bands.  Local communities are heavily
involved from carnival conception to the final presentation on the
road.  The majority of costume bands involve a broad spectrum of the
community in the artistic decisions, the making of the costumes and
final performance in costume.   
UK Carnivals attract very large audiences.  Notting Hill Carnival is
capable of attracting two million spectators over the August Bank
Holiday weekend, of which many are international visitors.  Smaller
regional carnivals will attract between 30,000 and 100,000 people. 
Attendance at UK carnivals grows significantly each year.

Carnival disciplines in the UK
On the street, the carnival art forms fuse together with other disciplines
such as music, visual art, theatre, dance and literature to make what
the carnival sector refers to as “the Greatest Show on Earth”.  Some of
the carnival disciplines in UK carnival are:

 Mas – Masquerade, referring to the Caribbean carnival
traditions featuring designed costumes and themed artistic
expressions
 Calypso (Caribbean music style, originated in Trinidad and
Tobago at about the start of the 20th century).
 Steelpan 
 Floats 
 Majorettes (popular in traditional UK carnivals)
 Samba
 Marching bands (popular in traditional UK carnivals)
 Mask (refer to the section on Costumes and masks)
 Mobile Sound Systems  (Sound system played on the float for
the parade) 
Static Sound Systems (Sound systems in carnival based on a
particular location) 

The carnival band
A carnival band (also known as carnival club or mas band) is usually
led by a bandleader.  On the road the band will feature a king,
queen, prince, princess and other major costumes followed by a
section or sections.  Each section will have twenty five to eighty
participants in costumes relating to their chosen theme. 

Music for the processing carnival bands (especially the Caribbean
and some UK style carnival bands) is normally provided from a float
equipped with taped music, a live band or acoustically (in the case of
African and Latin American carnival) by drums, samba or steel band. 

The carnival workshop (mas camp in the Caribbean or creation
centre in Europe) is a place where the carnival artists and the
community meet to create their costumes or decorate floats. 
Nowadays there are a lot of rules and stipulations, which have to be
adhered to in terms of health and safety and licensing laws.  Therefore
going on the road or setting up a carnival workshop requires more
than just getting the community together.

The majority of the traditional English style carnivals take place in May
or November e.g. Guy Fawkes Night (Bonfire Night or Cracker Night). 
Often the emphasis is on collecting money for charity.  The Somerset
carnivals place great energy in float building and producing
beautifully costumed tableaux. 
The main Brazilian groups taking part in Notting Hill concentrate on
creating fantastic costumes and samba music.  They spend time
decorating their floats in homage to the large Rio style carnival floats.  

The Caribbean carnival bands tend to use mobile sound systems
which play pre-recorded music.  Most of the Caribbean style carnivals
do not build floats as most of their time and money is dedicated to
costume making and choreography.  The costumed elements are
influenced by the Trinidad style carnival and many UK designers have
developed their own contemporary style. 

African influences on carnival traditions
Important to Caribbean festival arts are the ancient African traditions of parading and moving in circles through villages in costumes and masks. Circling villages was believed to bring good fortune, to heal problems, and chill out angry relatives who had died and passed into the next world. Carnival traditions also borrow from the African tradition of putting together natural objects (bones, grasses, beads, shells, fabric) to create a piece of sculpture, a mask, or costume — with each object or combination of objects representing a certain idea or spiritual force.

Feathers were frequently used by Africans in their motherland on masks and headdresses as a symbol of our ability as humans to rise above problems, pains, heartbreaks, illness — to travel to another world to be reborn and to grow spiritually. Today, we see feathers used in many, many forms in creating carnival costumes.

African dance and music traditions transformed the early carnival celebrations in the Americas, as African drum rhythms, large puppets, stick fighters, and stilt dancers began to make their appearances in the carnival festivities.

In many parts of the world, where Catholic Europeans set up colonies and entered into the slave trade, carnival took root. Brazil, once a Portuguese colony, is famous for its carnival, as is Mardi Gras in Louisiana (where African-Americans mixed with French settlers and Native Americans). Carnival celebrations are now found throughout the Caribbean in Barbados, Jamaica, Grenada, Dominica, Haiti, Cuba, St. Thomas, St. Marten; in Central and South America in Belize, Panama, Brazil; and in large cities in Canada and the U.S. where Caribbean people have settled, including Brooklyn, Miami, and Toronto. Even San Francisco has a carnival! 

Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad's carnival is a beautiful example of how carnival can unite the world. For in this small nation, the beliefs and traditions of many cultures have come together; and for a brief five days each year, the whole country forgets their differences to celebrate life!

Like many other nations under colonial rule, the history of Native Americans and African people in Trinidad is a brutal, sad story. Spain and England at different times both claimed Trinidad as their colonies. Under British rule, the French settled in Trinidad, bringing with them their slaves, customs, and culture. By 1797, 14,000 French settlers came to live in Trinidad, consisting of about 2,000 whites and 12,000 slaves. Most of the native peoples (often called the Amerindians) who were the first people to live in Trinidad, died from forced labor and illness.

Carnival was introduced to Trinidad around 1785, as the French settlers began to arrive. The tradition caught on quickly, and fancy balls were held where the wealthy planters put on masks, wigs, and beautiful dresses and danced long into the night. The use of masks had special meaning for the slaves, because for many African peoples, masking is widely used in their rituals for the dead. Obviously banned from the masked balls of the French, the slaves would hold their own little carnivals in their backyards — using their own rituals and folklore, but also imitating their masters’ behavior at the masked balls.

For African people, carnival became a way to express their power as individuals, as well as their rich cultural traditions. After 1838 (when slavery was abolished), the freed Africans began to host their own carnival celebrations in the streets that grew more and more elaborate, and soon became more popular than the balls.

Today, carnival in Trinidad is like a mirror that reflects the faces the many immigrants who have come to this island nation from Europe, Africa, India, and China. African, Asian, and American Indian influences have been particularly strong.

Carnival is such an important aspect of life in Trinidad that many schools believe that sponsoring a carnival band is a way to teach young people about their roots and culture. In Trinidad’s Kiddies Carnival, hundreds of schools and community organizations participate! In this way, communities work together to develop stronger friendships and greater respect for the many cultures that make up Trinidad.