This convo motivated me to ask more Vincentians the same thing. What IS Carnival to you? Maybe I will get some good answers to post as Vincy Mas gets closer.
This was a pretty good site that summed up the history of Carnival and why it is such a big deal in areas that still have Carnival.
The History of Carnival
(carnivalpower.com)
What is
carnival?
It is an annual celebration of life found in many countries of the world. And in fact, by learning more about carnival we can learn more about ourselves and a lot about accepting and understanding other cultures.
It is an annual celebration of life found in many countries of the world. And in fact, by learning more about carnival we can learn more about ourselves and a lot about accepting and understanding other cultures.
Where did the word “carnival”
come from?
Hundred and hundreds of years ago, the followers of the Catholic religion in Italy started the tradition of holding a wild costume festival right before the first day of Lent. Because Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called their festival, carnevale — which means “to put away the meat.” As time passed, carnivals in Italy became quite famous; and in fact the practice spread to France, Spain, and all the Catholic countries in Europe. Then 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.
Hundred and hundreds of years ago, the followers of the Catholic religion in Italy started the tradition of holding a wild costume festival right before the first day of Lent. Because Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called their festival, carnevale — which means “to put away the meat.” As time passed, carnivals in Italy became quite famous; and in fact the practice spread to France, Spain, and all the Catholic countries in Europe. Then 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.
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.
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
Uniting the World
Carnival arts offers all of us a dynamic tool for self-expression and exploration, a tool to seek out our roots, a tool to develop new forms of looking at the world and its cultures, and finally, a tool to unite the world, to discover what we all have in common, and to celebrate what makes us different. The power and creativity that underlies these art forms can transform lives. Join hands with All Ah We, and together we will dance the song of life!
Carnival arts offers all of us a dynamic tool for self-expression and exploration, a tool to seek out our roots, a tool to develop new forms of looking at the world and its cultures, and finally, a tool to unite the world, to discover what we all have in common, and to celebrate what makes us different. The power and creativity that underlies these art forms can transform lives. Join hands with All Ah We, and together we will dance the song of life!
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