It’s Carnival Time!

It’s that time of the year again. It’s time to get your costumes, grab a drink and go completely insane on the streets of Port of Spain to celebrate Carnival. Originating in Trinidad and Tobago in the late 18th century, it literally means “farewell to meat” or “farewell to flesh” which is a celebration of freedom brought to the islands by the French/Spanish.

What is Carnival?

This event is huge in the caribbean islands and the countdown generally begins right after Christmas and is looked at as a second most religiously celebrated event. A glimpse of carnival can be witnessed in Canada during the summer months as the Caribana festival takes Toronto. Huge floats, over the top costumes and loud jovial music is what Carnival is really about.

Last year, I had the chance to attend this magnificent event on the island of Trinidad and Tobago. A close friend is a native of the island and has taken part in this event year after year. Although there are several bands that play in this massive parade, we were part of Harts Carnival. And therefore the only thing I had to purchase was my ticket to fly down and my costume to be a part of the parade. Carnival typically lasts about a week with pre-parties or as more commonly known “fetes” that feature famous artist like Machel Montano and party cruises down and around the islands, so a healthy stamina is a must.

Being my first time, I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting the amount of craziness that was going on around me. We attended a water pre party surrounded by 3 firetrucks hosing us down with water. The music was loud and along with water, people were also throwing drinks on each other and various water colours. What started at 7am finally finished at 10am, the streets filled with empty cups, tired party goers and enough water everywhere to form small puddles. We were exhausted to say the least but had a another boat cruise in an hour so went home, changed as quickly as we could and headed out to the boat. We sailed around the islands while being educated about the culture of the islands, the music, the food and more importantly prepping for what was to come.

 

J’ouvert

This year carnival falls on the 27th and 28th — Carnival Monday and Carnival Tuesday, two days of energy filled, crazy costume parade and more importantly battle of the bands. But before this is the event of J’Ouvert. The term comes from the french meaning DayBreak and usually begins at 3am on the day of Carnival Monday. During this event, partygoers gather on the streets of Port of Spain with their bodies covered in mud, oil coca and many other forms of body paint to party on the streets. Trinis refer to J’Ouvert as dutty mas because you will get dirty during J’Ouvert morning. By the time the event was done, we could barely recognize each other.

J’ouvert started at 4am and we started partying in the dark. As we went along the streets, we saw the sun come up and this was the first time I had partied like this. We spent the remainder of the day catching up on sleep and attending to our sore muscles. I stayed at my friend’s house with 7 other friends and so even when we were home, rest was not something that we got as there was plenty going on.

Carnival Monday/Tuesday 

Here we go, this was the part I was waiting for the whole time. Being part of a band, we had to be in our costumes and ready at the entry point by 9am. The band had a pre-party which we could not miss out on and running on 3 hours of sleep, this became a habit. We were no longer tired, instead excited to start our day with a tall glass of cold beer. We also had doubles which is a very common street food and is roti filled with chickpea batter. To battle the heat, I had coconut water fresh out of a coconut. This was my favourite and I wish I had found this earlier on in my trip. We were equipped in our team outfit and were ready to party before the actual event.

The entire city was shut down and everyone was just as excited about it as I was. To see an entire country take part in this was absolutely amazing. It was like Christmas, people with their friends and families truly enjoying the music letting go of any fears, problems and troubles. It was amazing to see the various different costumes, the bands and the crowd enjoying life to the fullest.

Getting into the costume was difficult, there were a lot of chains and add ons, head gear and we were instructed to look as decorative as possible. I had carried with me some face jewels and body jewellery to fit in with the rest of the masqueraders. And so began our 2 day parade. The temperature was above 30 degrees both days and being on our feet for 10-12 hours was exhausting. We had to go along with our band which came equipped with a moving trolley filled with drinks, water and ice. Because we were part of the parade, we had access to unlimited drinks and a lunch box which was included in the hour lunch break. Locals would join us from time to time dancing and celebrating while others watched from their homes.

It was amazing experience, not only did I make new friends but also learnt so much about Trinidadian culture. I was only in Trinidad for 3 days which is not enough time at all and when I came back, my entire body was sore. I felt like I had competed in a triathlon. It may sound strange as it was only dancing but the parties, the travel and overall atmosphere can get very tiring!

I wish I could attend carnival this year but I know I will be back again dancing on the streets of Trinidad whilst enjoying a cool beverage. I am also hoping to attend carnival in Brazil which done on a larger scale.

Let me know if you’ve ever attended such an event or concert, I’d love to know more and possibly take part in it 🙂

Until next time!