What is Carnival

What is Carnival

Celebrating Carnival

Originally celebrated the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, Carnival was a time of revelry before six weeks of Lenten fasting. During Lent Catholics gave up eating meat so "Fat Tuesday" or "Mardi Gras" was a farewell to meat or "carne-vale." Masquerade balls, music, and fun marked the occasion. While many islands still celebrate Carnival during the period preceding Ash Wednesday, other islands have opted to hold their Carnivals after Easter or even during the summer. No matter when it occurs, Carnival promises a good time for all. With its colorful costumes, elaborate floats, music competitions, food and drink, Carnival is a feast for all the senses.

All this pageantry takes much work and planning. Preparations for Carnival start well before the event--often a year before. A theme is selected, and all costumes, floats, and music are related to the theme. Music competitions, concerts, balls, King and Queen contests, and parades are all part of the festivities. Prizes are also awarded for best float, best costume, or King of Calypso, and each group tries to outdo its competition as they vie for the title of "Best."

For those who are new to Carnival here are some explanations to guide you through the Carnival Lingo

BAND	A stringed or percussion band or a Steelband which provides the music for the masqueraders to dance A band is an organised group of individuals who come together to produce a masquerade band at carnival time A band is also a group of mas players in costume depicting a specific theme who dance through the streets at carnival time.
CARNIVAL	A celebration that takes place just before the start of the Catholic Season of Lent. In Roman Catholic countries it marks the two days of feasting and partying before Ash Wednesday. It comes from the Latin words carne levare literally meaning farewell to flesh.
CALYPSO	The lyrics created for the specific tunes that are sung at carnival time.
DESIGNER	The professional artist who creates the costumes.
DESIGNS	The artistic depictions of the creative artists that are eventually realised as costumes
DIMANCHE GRAS	From two French words literally meaning Fat Sunday. On stage show which takes place on the Sunday before Carnival.
JOUR OUVERT	From two French words literally meaning open day. Jour Ouvert is the ritual and official start of the carnival celebrations. In Jour Ouvert people put on mud, grease and old clothes: in short they de-costume.
JUMP UP	One of the many versions of dancing that belongs to the carnival performance repertoire. At its most extreme, the carnival masquerader’s’ both feet are lifted off the ground, arms are extended in the air, and there is a look of ecstasy on the face. There is a simpler version called chipping which is simply a shuffling of the feet in time to the music.
MAS	Coming from the French word le masque (mask) that refers to a covering for the face. This was later abbreviated to mas and it now refers to the costume that is worn at carnival time. Mas is also indigenous to Trinidad & Tobago. The entire population plays mas at carnival time.
MAS CAMP	The band’s headquarters. Costumes are made there and people also go there to enrol in a band.
MASQUERADE	originates from the French le masquerade which referred to fancy dress balls in which masks and other disguises are worn. It refers to the collective ritual celebration of Carnival.
MASQUERADER	a person wearing a costume, participating in Carnival.
PLAYING MAS	To play mas means to don a costume to participate in Carnival Playing mas refers to the public rendition or enactment of the various costumes on competition stages by groups of dancing masqueraders in the carnival theatre of the streets.
PAN	Pan is the national musical instrument of Trinidad & Tobago. the term is used to describe steel drums made with grooved sections and tuned to play scaled-notes. Steelbands can have more than 100 players.
PANYARD	The place where Steelbands rehearse
PORTRAYAL	A band’s danced enactment/performance on stage. It also refers to the theme selected by the creative artist that is manifested in costumes.
SOCA	An up-beat contemporary fusion of soul and calypso