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Caribbean Style Carnival
The genesis of Caribbean Style Carnival takes us back to 1783 in Trinidad, then a
Spanish colony, sparsely populated, and barely developed. In that same year, the King of
Spain, Carlos IV, by a special decree, permitted all people of Roman Catholic Faith to
settle in Trinidad. There followed a mass emigration to Trinidad of French planters and
their slaves who had previously settled in the islands of Grenada, Guadeloupe, and
Martinique. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, another wave of French
settlers made their way to Trinidad. These were the people who helped to set the
foundation for the development of Caribbean style carnival in Trinidad. It was not just
the French Mardi Gras that motivated the African slaves; it was their deep musical
heritage that pointed out for them the potential for a much more dynamic and exciting
rendition of this event.
The French had been in the habit of celebrating Mardi Gras, viewed then as a religious
festival of the Roman Catholic Church and occurring just prior to the beginning of the
Lenten Season. The occasion was celebrated with great pomp by way of "masked balls in
the great houses". In Trinidad it became an exclusive event celebrated only by the
wealthy estate owners, most of whom were French whites. The African slaves were
prohibited from participating, but their fascination with what they had observed
eventually led to their own backyard celebration in which they imitated the characters in
the French balls.
With the abolition of slavery in l839, the French Mardi Gras underwent a complete
transformation. The freed slaves now dominated the scene to such an extent that drove
the French to the confines of the balls and house to house visits. The slaves, drawing
heavily from the wealth of their African past-particularly the rituals, the folklore, and
the music, transformed the event to one that today is described by visitors from outside
the Island as the greatest festival of its kind in the world.
Proud of their remarkable remaking of the French Mardi Gras into such a spectacle that
they can truly call their own, Trinidad nationals have taken this celebration to several
places of the world in which they have re-established themselves; notably, Great Britain,
United States, and Canada.
The development of Caribbean Carnival in Canada reflects an interesting pattern of
inserting this cultural form beside.an existing or first time special anniversary of the
particular locality, Toronto's Caribana began in 1967 as a contribution of the Caribbean
community to the celebration of Canada's Centennial. Montreal's Carefete took off in
1974 when, in the previous year, Caribbeans who were members of the Union United
Church, helped to celebrate its anniversary by means of a road march supported by music
of the steel drums. The celebration of Klondyke days in Edmonton provided the
opportunity for Caribbeans there to introduce the culture of the carnival to that city in
1985. In 1974, the Caribbean community responded to the invitation to participate in the
celebration of Winnipeg's Centennial by staging a Carnival parade-the first ever in
Winnipeg. However, it was not until August of 1987 that the Caripeg Carnival
Committee began an annual carnival parade, and continued to do so until 2004
With the newly-developed "Winnipeg Carnival Association Ine", Winnipegers
can look forward to a return of Caribbean style carnival later this Summer.
Article written by Dr. Cecil Grant.
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