Caribbean Carnival is the term used for a number of events that take place in many of the Caribbean islands annually.
The Caribbean's Carnivals all have several common themes based on folklore, culture, and religion, not on amusement rides.
Carnival tradition is based on a number of disciplines including: "Playing Mas"/Masquerade; Calypso Music and crowning a Calypso King or Monarch; Panorama (Steel Band Competition); Jouvert morning; and a number of other traditions.
Old-Time Carnival characters
- Burrokeets
- Cow Bands
- Dame Lorraine
- Fancy Indians
- Jab Jab & Jab Molassie
- Midnight Robber
- Moko jumbies
- Pierrot Grenade, gives speeches on issues of the day, all in rhyme
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Competitions
- Calypso Monarch
- Chutney Soca Monarch
- Soca Monarch
- Panorama
- Roadmarch
- Band of the Year
- Queen of the Bands
- King of the Bands
- Junior Carnival (Kiddies Carnival)
Music
Music Styles
Local Carnivals
A list of the islands that celebrate Carnival are shown below. Approximate dates are given for the concluding festivities on each island. (On some islands, most notably Trinidad and Tobago, the carnival season lasts for over a month, and the exact dates vary from year to year.)
- Anguilla (first week in August)
- Antigua and Barbuda (first week in August)
- Aruba (Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)
- Barbados (first Monday in August)
- Belize (typically Saturday nearest to September 10)
- Bonaire (Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)
- British Virgin Islands
Jost Van Dyke, Old Year's Night (New Year's Eve to New Year's Morning)
Tortola, BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival (seven days at the start of Spring)
Tortola, BVI Music Festival (end of May)
Tortola, BVI Emancipation Festival (first Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in August)
Virgin Gorda, Easter Festival (typically Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nearest April 15)
- Cayman Islands (after Ash Wednesday)
- Cuba
- Curaçao (Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)
- Dominica (Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)
- Dominican Republic (late February)
- Grenada (early August)
- Guadeloupe (Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)
- Guyana (February 23rd)
- Haiti (Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)
- Jamaica, (late March, early April)
- Martinique (Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)
- Puerto Rico (Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)
- Saba (early August)
- Saint-Barthélemy (Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)
- Saint Lucia (July)
- Saint Kitts and Nevis (roughly New Year's Day)
- Saint-Martin (Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (End of June through beginning of July)
- Sint Eustatius (early August)
- Sint Maarten (roughly a month after Easter)
- Trinidad and Tobago (Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)
- United States Virgin Islands
- Saint Croix, Crucian Festival (Ties in with the Christmas Break through the first week in January)
- Saint John, (July 3-4 / V.I. Emancipation Day and U.S. Independence Day)
- Saint Thomas, V.I. Carnival (last Friday and Saturday in April)
International Caribbean Carnivals
Canada
Carifest Parade in Calgary
- "Caribe-Expo" - In the city of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada.
- "Carifiesta" - In the city of Montreal in Quebec, Canada, typically 2-3 weeks before Toronto's Caribana.
- "Caribana" - In Toronto, Ontario, it draws close to a million visitors to the city. Caribana is known as the best Caribbean carnival outside of Trinidad and Tobago.
- "Carnival" - In the city of Hamilton 1 week after Toronto's Caribana.
- "Carifest" - In the city of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.
- "Cariwest" - Held annually the second week of August in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Cariwest boasts an amazing display of masqueraders in the main parade, and is a beautiful festival full of food and entertainment in the heart of downtown.
Germany
United Kingdom
United States
- Atlanta Carnival Atlanta, GA - Last weekend in May, usually falls on Memorial Day weekend
- Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Caribbean-American Festival held every July in Druid Hill Park neighborhood in Baltimore. BCA Carnival
- Boston, MA - Last Saturday in August, Dorchester, MA
- Cambridge, MA - Cambridge Carnival International, Last Sunday in August - Held in Kendall Square
- Chicago, IL - Chicago CARIFETE, Third Saturday in August, on the Midway Plaisance in the confines of the University of Chicago Campus.
- Austin, TX - Carnaval Brasileiro, February the 3rd
- Houston, TX - Usually the weekend around fourth of July.
- Long Island, NY - Weekend after Labor Day Carnival - Held in Hempstead
- Miami Carnival Miami, FL - The second weekend in October, Columbus Day weekend.
- Minneapolis, MN - CARIFEST - Usually held the third weekend of July along West River Road right next to the Mississippi River.
- New Orleans, LA - In November, the Bayou Bacchanal is held on the first Saturday in downtown and Armstrong Park.
- New York, NY - Labor Day Carnival - Held in Brooklyn, along Eastern Parkway, with over 2.3 million visitors annually
- Orlando, FL - This is usually held the last weekend in May, which is typically Memorial Day weekend. Most recently been held at the Citrus Bowl.
- Seattle, WA - Pioneer Square, annual Fat Tuesday celebration.
- Tacoma, WA - PLU campus Carnival, near Fat Tuesday
- Norfolk,VA - Virginia CaribFest, Virginia Caribfest(2nd weekend in July)
- Washington D.C. - DC Caribbean Festival, usually between June 16-24 every year. Run through Georgia Ave., Missouri Ave. all the way to Barry Place. dccaribbeancarnival.com
- Charleston Carifest, Charleston, SC. Third weekend in June (a week before DC Caribbean Festival).
See also
External links
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