It’s Monday guys and I have today and tomorrow off work for Carnival! As many of you know I’m proudly from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean and we have one of the biggest, if not the biggest Carnival in the world (google the word Carnival – just do it). It draws celebs from all over and the entire country shuts down for two days.
I wasn’t going to post today since its Carnival Monday here, but as I sat over the weekend thinking about what to post this week, I realized I couldn’t let the week pass by without shouting it out for Carnival.
I’ll be short and sweet today …
1. The Fetes – The word “fete” comes from our past French influence on the island but it simply means party – huge party. We party for weeeeeks before Carnival. I’m serious – for weeks and weeks leading up to Carnival Monday and Tuesday there are large fetes (middle pic of collage) every weekend with artists performing their Soca (our local music) hits for the year.
2. Soca Monarch – This is a huge international competition where Soca artists from around the Caribbean and the world enter for the title of “Monarch” of Soca. It’s supposed to depict who is the best Soca artist for that year. The finals are always held on “Carnival Friday” night or the Friday before Carnival Monday and Tuesday.
3. Jouvert – On Carnival Monday morning, there is a mud parade if you will, and it’s called Jouvert. Well, mud, paint, and sometimes chocolate. In the wee hours of Monday morning people take to the street to party and literally get dirty.
4. Costumes – On Monday and Tuesday, revellers parade the streets in costumes. These costumes are beautiful, if not sometimes really skimpy 😉 .
5. Panorama – I realize that a lot of people don’t know that the pan was created in Trinidad. But it was, and during Carnival there’s an entire competition dedicated to the pest pan orchestra!
6. Heritage / Tradition / National Pride – It’s hard to explain to someone how much pride a Trini gets when someone mentions Carnival. We can speak for hours about – the songs that remind of years gone, the revellry, everything. It’s part of our history and culture and its ingrained in us. So many trinis abroad “come home” just for Carnival and to experience the complete chaos (in a good way) that is this festival. It really cannot be put into words but if you get a chance, you should visit and see for yourself.
** I have a pre-written post scheduled for tomorrow but I probably wont be around the blog physically until later this week.
