Carnival: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively ← Previous edit Next edit →Content deleted Content addedVisual WikitextInline

Revision as of 20:12, 24 December 2006 editRex Germanus (talk \| contribs)11,278 edits →Netherlands ← Previous edit		Revision as of 21:54, 26 December 2006 edit undoMatthead (talk \| contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Rollbackers21,271 edits rv of repeated deletions by editor who is known for anti-German POV and edit-warringNext edit →
Line 63:		Line 63:

	====Netherlands====		====Netherlands====
	In the ] (where it is called '~~Vastenavond' or 'Karnaval~~'), the last day of Carnival, the day before ], is held exactly 40 days (not counting Sundays) before Easter. Dutch carnival is most celebrated in Catholic regions, mostly the southern provinces ] and ], where it is also known as Vastenavond (literally "Fasting evening", although that strictly refers only to the last day). The most popular places where Carnival is held (although every city, town or village celebrates it) are ], ], ] and ]. Carnival here has been celebrated ever since mediaeval times and was modernised after ], when ] even continued to celebrate it indoors. However, it is the most southern province of The ], ], especially Maastricht, where many Dutch go to celebrate it. During the ~~event~~, every town is one big party.		In the ] (where it is called 'Carnaval'), the last day of Carnival, the day before ], is held exactly 40 days (not counting Sundays) before Easter. Dutch carnival is most celebrated in Catholic regions, mostly the southern provinces ] and ], where it is also known as Vastenavond (literally "Fasting evening", although that strictly refers only to the last day). The most popular places where Carnival is held (although every city, town or village celebrates it) are ], ], ] and ]. Carnival here has been celebrated ever since mediaeval times and was modernised after ], when ] even continued to celebrate it indoors. However, it is the most southern province of The ], ], especially Maastricht, where many Dutch go to celebrate it. During 'Vasteloavend' or 'Karneval' (in the local language), every town is one big party.

	During Dutch Carnival, many traditions are kept alive, first of all the parade with dressed-up groups, musicians and elaborate build show-vehicles, a fake ''prince'' plus cortège, the ''boerenbruiloft'' (farmer's wedding) and the ''haring happen'' (eating herring) at Ash Wednesday but the traditions vary from town to town.		During Dutch Carnival, many traditions are kept alive, first of all the parade with dressed-up groups, musicians and elaborate build show-vehicles, a fake ''prince'' plus cortège, the ''boerenbruiloft'' (farmer's wedding) and the ''haring happen'' (eating herring) at Ash Wednesday but the traditions vary from town to town.

	There are three types of Carnival celebrated in The Netherlands. ] is famous not so much for its parades but for its street carnival, with elaborate costumes that people work on all year, a ~~bit like the~~ South American style, but with a strong accent on humour, and not ulike ], mostly ], traditions, culture and costumes. The third variant can be found in ], ], ] and ]. The Carnival in ~~Den Bosch~~ is known as the oldest in the Netherlands. Several paintings of the world famous Jheronimus Bosch, who lived in the city in the 15th century, are based on the carnival festivities in the city during the Middle Ages. The oldest known Carnival festivities in 's-Hertogenbosch date from 1385. In 1882 De Oeteldonksche Club was founded to secure the future of Carnival in 's-Hertogenbosch. The Carnival ~~of Bergen op Zoom~~ shares most traditions with ~~'s Hertogenbosch~~ and very few traditions and folklore with the rest of the Netherlands and they have celebrated it in their specific way ever since ].		There are three types of Carnival celebrated in The Netherlands. The best known variant is known as the ''Rijnlandsche Carnival'' and it shares many folklore traditions with its German and Belgium counterparts. ] is famous not so much for its parades but for its street carnival, with elaborate costumes that people work on all year, rather in South American style, but with a strong accent on humour, and not ulike ], mostly ], traditions, culture and costumes. The third variant can be found in ] and ], or ''Oeteldonk'' and ''Krabbegat'' as they call those cities during the festivities. The Carnival in Oeteldonk is known as the oldest in the Netherlands. Several paintings of the world famous Jheronimus Bosch, who lived in the city in the 15th century, are based on the carnival festivities in the city during the Middle Ages. The oldest known Carnival festivities in 's-Hertogenbosch date from 1385. In 1882 De Oeteldonksche Club was founded to secure the future of Carnival in 's-Hertogenbosch. The Krabbegatse Carnival shares most traditions with Oeteldonk and very few traditions and folklore with the rest of the Netherlands and they have celebrated it in their specific way ever since ].

	In Amsterdam, a similar event, but at a different time of year, is ].		In Amsterdam, a similar event, but at a different time of year, is ].

Revision as of 21:54, 26 December 2006

For other meanings, see Carnival (disambiguation).

Swabian-Alemannic carnival clowns in Wolfach, Germany

A carnival is a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus and public street party, generally during the carnival season. Carnival is often a Roman Catholic and, to a lesser extent, Christian Orthodox celebration. Most Protestant and non-Christian areas do not celebrate it, with some Fundamentalist Protestant groups condemning the celebration, although the word carnival has passed into the vernacular and taken on secular meanings in most areas of the Western world.

The Carnival Season is a holiday period during the two weeks before the traditional Christian fasting of Lent. The origin of the name "Carnival" is unclear. The most common theory is that the name comes from the Italian carne- or carnovale, from Latin carnem (meat) + levare (lighten or raise), literally "to remove the meat" or "stop eating meat". It has also been claimed that it comes from the Latin words caro (meat) and vale (farewell), hence "farewell to meat" or "farewell to the flesh", letting go of the earthly or bodily self)

Another theory states that it originates from the Latin carrus navalis, which was a Greek cart carrying a statue of a god in a religious procession at the annual festivities in honor of the god Apollo. Most commonly the season began on Septuagesima, the third from the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday, but in some places it started as early as Twelfth Night, continuing until Lent. This period of celebration and partying had its origin in the need to use up all remaining meat and animal products such as eggs and butter before the fasting season. The celebration of Carnival ends on "Mardi Gras" (French for "Fat Tuesday", meaning Shrove Tuesday), the day before Ash Wednesday, when the rigors of Lent's 40 days of fasting and sacrifice begin. It sometimes lasts until Piñata Weekend, the first Saturday and Sunday of Lent. In Ambrosian rite, Carnival ends on Saturday.

Origins of the Carnival season

One theory is that this festival came from Saturnalia, Saturn's festival, and Lupercalia. In the later Roman period, these festivals were characterized by wanton behaviour. This spirit of celebration may have been transmitted to the Carnival.

Another theory, most prominent in Switzerland, probably predates Christianity. The festival was linked to the beginning of spring, and the idea behind Carnival was to scare evil spirits away. This was usually done with processions, where the participants wore horrible masks, and made loud noises and music. Later on, the processions were devoted to patron-saints, the two most prominent being the Virgin Mary or the Saint the local church was dedicated to.

In ancient times, carnival was held to begin on 6 January and lasted until midnight of Shrove Tuesday. (To this day in Poland, the carnival period lasts from New Year's Day to Shrove Tuesday, making it the Catholic world's longest.) Some believe that this period of license represents the kind of compromise the church tended to make with pagan festivals and that carnival really represents the Roman Saturnalia. Rome has always been the headquarters of carnival, and though some popes, notably Clement IX and XI and Benedict XIII, made efforts to stem the tide of Bacchanalian revelry, many of the popes were great patrons and promoters of carnival-keeping.

The Catholic Church repeatedly made efforts to check the excesses of the carnival, especially in Italy. During the sixteenth century in particular a special form of the Forty Hours Prayer was instituted in many places on the Monday and Tuesday of Shrovetide, partly to draw the people away from these dangerous occasions of sin, partly to make expiation for the excesses committed. By a special constitution addressed by Benedict XIV to the archbishops and bishops of the Papal States, and headed "Super Bacchanalibus", a plenary indulgence was granted in 1747 to those who took part in the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament which was to be carried out daily for three days during the carnival season.

Shrovetide

Shrovetide is the English equivalent of what is known in the greater part of southern Europe as the "Carnival" marking the beginning of Lent. The English term "Shrovetide" (from "to shrive", or hear confessions) is sufficiently explained by a sentence in the Anglo-Saxon "Ecclesiastical Institutes" translated from Theodulphus by Abbot Aelfric about A.D. 1000: "In the week immediately before Lent everyone shall go to his confessor and confess his deeds and the confessor shall so shrive him as he then my hear by his deeds what he is to do ". In this name Shrovetide the religious idea is uppermost, and the same is true of the German Fastnacht (the eve of the fast). It is reasonable enough that before a long period of deprivations human nature should allow itself some good cheer. No appeal to traces of earlier pagan customs seems needed to explain the general observance of a carnival celebration.

The only clear fact which does not seem to be adequately accounted for is the widespread tendency to include the preceding Thursday (called in French Jeudi gras and in German fetter Donnerstag -- just as Shrove Tuesday is respectively called Mardi gras in French and fetter Dienstag in German, both meaning 'Fat Tuesday') with the Monday and Tuesday which follow Quinquagesima. The English custom of eating pancakes was suggested by the need of using up the eggs and fat which were, originally at least, prohibited articles of diet during the forty days of Lent. The same prohibition is, mainly responsible for the association of eggs with the Easter festival at the other end of Lent.

Although the observance of Shrovetide in England never ran to the wild excesses which often marked this period of license in southern climes, still various sports, and especially games of football, were common in almost all parts of the country (see Royal Shrovetide Football), and in the households of the great it was customary to celebrate the evening of Shrove Tuesday by the performance of masques and other plays.

The festive observance of Shrovetide had become far too much a part of the life of the people to be discarded at the Reformation. Contemporary writers say that the day was almost everywhere kept as a holiday, while general mischief seems to have been tolerated in the universities and public schools.

Special celebrations around the world

Cities noted for elaborate Carnival celebrations:

Venice in Italy
Sydney (Mardis Gras) in Australia
Aalst, Binche, Eupen, Hasselt, and Malmedy in Belgium
Olinda, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo in Brazil
Ivrea in Italy
Barranquilla and Pasto in Colombia
Santiago in Cuba
Aalborg in Denmark
Nice in France
Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Mainz in Germany
Patras in Greece
Darjeeling (Carnival) and Goa in India
Valletta in Malta
Rijeka in Croatia
's-Hertogenbosch and Maastricht in the Netherlands
Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles
Ovar in Portugal
Strumica in the Republic of Macedonia
Ptuj in Slovenia
Cádiz, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Sitges in Spain
Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago
Brooklyn, Mobile, New Orleans and San Francisco in the United States
Montevideo in Uruguay

Europe

England

Main article: Shrove Tuesday

In England Shrove Tuesday is celebrated as Pancake Day, but apart from the serving of pancakes and occasional pancake races and football matches (see Royal Shrovetide Football), little else of Carnival survived the Reformation. Caribbean influence has led to the establishment of several "West Indian" carnivals, but these are not held in Carnival season. The leading festivities are Notting Hill Carnival in August (reputedly the world's largest), and Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival in November.

Many London boroughs hold carnivals in the summer, usually involving a street parade of floats consisting of low sided open lorries or other smaller vehicles covered in decorations, with the participants dressed in costume. This procession often features a carnival queen or princess, usually the winner of a local beauty contest for young ladies. Although this cannot be said for all local carnivals. Some contests are based upon fundraising skills and the ability to talk to an audience. Over 100 smaller rural village and town carnivals still survive across the UK, sometimes taking note of Caribbean and European styles but striving to maintain their individuality and local community spirit. These smaller Carnivals are usually self funding and use the money they raise on their own carnival day to visit other carnivals. So all the Carnival Queens you see at a Carnival will be visited in return by the Town's Court. Devizes in Wiltshire, for example, has a week of carnival festivities which includes a street festival and a traditional confetti battle, concluding with a carnival parade with bands on the last day. Several have performance and holiday parade charters (now historical documents) going back many hundreds of years.

In Somerset, the West Country Carnivals are held between August and late November each year. They are a parade of illuminated floats or carts, with marching bands, groups of cheerleaders, and individuals walking in costume. These parades are also a competition for best float and best walking entrant categories. The float with the most points at the end of the carnival season picking up the County Cup. Carnivals are arranged into circuits, and so the same floats can be seen in different towns over the carnival period. Circuits and Carnival Clubs societies, who build and run floats, fund for the carnivals as well as for charity. To this end there are collectors with buckets walking in the procession, and in most places one or two floats used specially for collecting money, usually allowing the spectators to throw their contribution onto the float. Bigger carnivals will sometimes also include a funfair, fireworks display or food stalls such as a beer tent. The Bridgwater carnival is believed to be the largest illuminated carnival in Europe, if not the world.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands (where it is called 'Carnaval'), the last day of Carnival, the day before Ash Wednesday, is held exactly 40 days (not counting Sundays) before Easter. Dutch carnival is most celebrated in Catholic regions, mostly the southern provinces Noord Brabant and Limburg, where it is also known as Vastenavond (literally "Fasting evening", although that strictly refers only to the last day). The most popular places where Carnival is held (although every city, town or village celebrates it) are Maastricht, 's-Hertogenbosch, Bergen op Zoom and Breda. Carnival here has been celebrated ever since mediaeval times and was modernised after WW II, when Bergen op Zoom even continued to celebrate it indoors. However, it is the most southern province of The Netherlands, Limburg, especially Maastricht, where many Dutch go to celebrate it. During 'Vasteloavend' or 'Karneval' (in the local language), every town is one big party.

During Dutch Carnival, many traditions are kept alive, first of all the parade with dressed-up groups, musicians and elaborate build show-vehicles, a fake prince plus cortège, the boerenbruiloft (farmer's wedding) and the haring happen (eating herring) at Ash Wednesday but the traditions vary from town to town.

There are three types of Carnival celebrated in The Netherlands. The best known variant is known as the Rijnlandsche Carnival and it shares many folklore traditions with its German and Belgium counterparts. Maastricht is famous not so much for its parades but for its street carnival, with elaborate costumes that people work on all year, rather in South American style, but with a strong accent on humour, and not ulike Italian, mostly Venician, traditions, culture and costumes. The third variant can be found in 's-Hertogenbosch and Bergen op Zoom, or Oeteldonk and Krabbegat as they call those cities during the festivities. The Carnival in Oeteldonk is known as the oldest in the Netherlands. Several paintings of the world famous Jheronimus Bosch, who lived in the city in the 15th century, are based on the carnival festivities in the city during the Middle Ages. The oldest known Carnival festivities in 's-Hertogenbosch date from 1385. In 1882 De Oeteldonksche Club was founded to secure the future of Carnival in 's-Hertogenbosch. The Krabbegatse Carnival shares most traditions with Oeteldonk and very few traditions and folklore with the rest of the Netherlands and they have celebrated it in their specific way ever since 1839.

In Amsterdam, a similar event, but at a different time of year, is hartjesdag.

German speaking areas

There is just the *Elferrat* on the stage, which are 11 persons, but there are some more members of it.

Germany, especially the western part (North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate) is famous for Karneval celebrations such as parades and costume balls. Whilst these events are widespread in places such as Krefeld, Aachen, Mönchengladbach, Duisburg, Bonn, Eschweiler, Odenheim and Cleves, only Cologne, Düsseldorf, Mainz are called carnival "strongholds" in the public media. In the South of Germany and Austria carnival is called Fasching and especially Munich developed a special kind of celebration. In Franconia and some other parts of Germany a carnival is called Fastnacht.

Although the festival and party season in Germany starts as early as the beginning of January, the actual carnival week starts on the Thursday ("Altweiberfastnacht") before Ash Wednesday. German Carnival parades are held on the weekend before and especially on Rosenmontag (Rose Monday), the day before Shrove Tuesday, and sometimes also on Shrove Tuesday ("Faschingsdienstag") in the suburbs of larger carnival cities. The carnival session begins each year on 11 November at 11:11 a.m. and finishes on Ash Wednesday. Most festivities happen around Rosenmontag; this time is also called the Fifth Season.

Rhineland

In the Rhineland festivities developed especially strongly, since it was a way to express subversive anti-Prussian and anti-French thoughts in times of occupation, through parody and mockery. Modern carnival there began in 1823 with the founding of a Carnival Club in Cologne. Today all Carnival Clubs are assembled in the German Carnival Association. Most cities and villages of the Rhineland have their own individual Carnival traditions. Nationally famous is the Carnival in Cologne (Köln), Duesseldorf and Mainz.

In the Rhineland, the Carnival season is considered to be the "fifth season of the year", starting at November 11th at exactly 11.11 a.m. Carnival clubs organize "sessions" which are show events called Prunksitzung with club members or invited guests performing dance, comedy and songs in fancy dresses.

The main event is the street carnival that takes place in the period between the Thursday before Ash Wednesday and Ash Wednesday. Carnival Thursday is called "Altweiber" (old women) or "Wieverfastelovend" (The women's day). On the following days, there are parades in the street organized by the local carnival clubs. The highlight of the carnival period however is Rose Monday. Rose Monday is not a national bank holiday in the Rhineland but it is in reality because most of public life comes to a rest and almost all firms are closed and shops are only open in the morning or not at all. The biggest parades are on Rose Monday, the famous "Rosenmontagszug" (Rose Monday Parade), eg. in Cologne, Duesseldorf and many other cities. During these events, hundreds of thousands of people celebrate in the streets at low temperatures, most of them dressed up in fancy clothes.

Alemannic Fastnacht

Main article: Fastnacht

The "Swabian-Alemannic" carnival begins on January 6 (Epiphany/Three Kings Day). This celebration is known as Fastnacht (literally "Fasting Eve" as it originally referred to the eve of the fasting season). Variants are Fasnet, Fasnacht or Fasent. Fastnacht is held in Baden-Württemberg, parts of Bavaria, and Alsace. Switzerland and Vorarlberg, in Austria, also hold this celebration. The festival starts on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, known in these regions as Schmutziger Donnerstag or Fettdonnerstag. In standard German, schmutzig means "dirty", but actually the name is from the local dialect where schmutzig means "fat"; "Greasy Thursday". Elsewhere the day is called "Women's Carnival" (Weiberfastnacht), being the day when tradition says that women take control. In particular regions of Tyrol, Salzburg and Bavaria traditional processions of the Perchten welcome the springtime. The Schönperchten ("beautiful Perchts") represent the birth of new life in the awakening nature, the Schiachperchten ("ugly Perchts") represent the dark spirits of wintertime. Farmers yearn for warmer weather and the Perchtenlauf (Run of Perchts; typical scenery) is a magical expression of that desire. The nights between winter and spring, when evil ghosts are supposed to go around, are also called Rauhnächte ("rough nights"). Mask of an "ugly Percht"

Greece

Main article: Patras Carnival

File:Basilissa edited.JPG

Patras Carnival, the float of the queen of Carnival

Patras in the Peloponnese, holds the largest annual carnival in Greece, the famous Patras Carnival, with celebrations starting on the week before the beginning of Greek Orthodox Lent, which falls between February to March. It is a ‘gran spettacolo’ that lasts three days and finishes on Clean Monday. Also in many other regions festivities of smaller extent are organized, focused on the reenactment of traditional customs. Other important carnivals in Greece are these in Kozani - (West Macedonia), and in Xanthi - (East Macedonia and Thrace).

Italy

Main article: Carnival of Venice

The carnival in Venice was first recorded in 1268. The subversive nature of the festival is reflected in the many laws created over the centuries in Italy attempting to restrict celebrations and often banning the wearing of masks.

Masks have always been a central feature of the Venetian carnival; traditionally people were allowed to wear them between the festival of Santo Stefano (St. Stephen's Day, December 26) at the start of the carnival season and midnight of Shrove Tuesday. As masks were also allowed during Ascension and from October 5 to Christmas, people could spend a large proportion of the year in disguise . Mask makers (mascareri) enjoyed a special position in society, with their own laws and their own guild.

In 1797 Venice became part of the Austrian-held Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia when Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio. The Austrians took control of the city on January 18, 1798 and it fell into a decline which brought carnival celebrations to a halt for many years. It was not until a modern mask shop was founded in the 1970s that a revival of old traditions began.

Carnival is celebrated throughout the rest of argentina It starts in mid-January or on February 2 according to local traditions, and ends on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. It is also common to celebrate Fat Thursday.

In Milan the Carnival lasts four more days, ending on the Saturday after Ash Wednesday, because of the Ambrosian rite.

Others very important Carnivals of Italy are Acireale, Foiano della Chiana, Ivrea, Putignano, Sciacca,Viareggio.

Malta

Carnival in Malta (known as Karnival) was first was introduced in 1535 by Grand Master Pietro del Ponte, five years after the Knights took over the islands. The main celebration takes place in the capital, Valletta, but in every town and village many people, mostly children, dress up in colourful clothes to camouflage their identity. The Valletta parade includes the King Carnival float followed by about a dozen others. Until some years ago, Carnival was also the event of the year for dances and masked balls. Under the rule of the Knights, the Auberges were left open and were delightfully decorated.

Spain

Arguably the most famous locales in Spain are Cádiz, Sitges, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Tarragona and specially Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where the celebration normally takes place the week before Lent.

At Santa Cruz de Tenerife the parties of the cities are not only well known in Spain, but also worldwide. It is famous for thematic costumes, and the election of the Carnival Queen. There is also a parade of Drag-Queens, known as reinonas.

Sitges Carnival is the most important Carnival in the Spanish community of Catalonia. Folk dances and xatonades (traditional local salad served with assorted omelets) are also characteristic Sitges carnival elements. The two most important moments are the Rua de la Disbauxa, or the Debauchery Parade, on Sunday night and the Rua de l‘Extermini, or Extermination Parade, on Tuesday night. Some forty-odd floats with more than 2,500 participants parade in Sitges.

In Tarragona is found one of the most complete ritual sequences of the Catalan carnivals. The events start with the building of a huge barrel and end with its burning together with the effigies of the carnival King and Queen. On Saturday, the main parade takes place. There are masked groups, zoomorphic figures, music and percussion bands, and traditional groups with fireworks (the devils, the dragon, the ox, the female dragon). Carnival groups stand out for their splendid clothes full of elegance and of brilliant examples of fabric crafts at the Saturday and Sunday parades.

Carnival of Cádiz

Main article: Carnival of Cádiz

In Cádiz everyone wears a costume, which is often related to recent news, such as the bird flu epidemic in 2006, during which many people were disguised as chickens. The feeling of this carnival is the sharp criticism, the funny play on words and the imagination in the costumes, more than the glamourous dressings. It is traditional to paint the face with lipstick as a humble substitute of a mask.

A choir singing in the Carnival of Cádiz

The most famous groups are the chirigotas, coirs and comparsas.

The chirigotas are well known witty, satiric popular groups who sing about politics, new times and household topics, wearing the same costume, which they train for the whole year. There is an official competition in Teatro Falla, where they comepte for the award to the group. The music of the songs is written by each group. Each chirigota has a wide repertoire of satirical lyrics.

The Choirs (coros) are wider groups that go on open carts through the streets singing with a little orchestra of guitars and lutes. Their characteristic composition is the "Carnival Tango", and they alternate comical and serious repertory.

The comparsas are the serious counterpart of the chirigota in Cádiz, and the poetical lyrics and the criticism are their main ingredients. They have a more elaborated polyphony, being easily recognizable by the typical countertenor voice.

Poland

In Poland the traditional way of celebrating the Carnival is kulig, a horse-drawn sleigh ride through the snow-covered countryside. The Polish Carnival Season includes Fat Thursday (Polish: Tłusty Czwartek) - a day for eating pączki - and Śledziówka (Shrove Tuesday), or Herring Day (herring is a traditional Polish appetizer for drinking vodka). The Tuesday before Lent begins is also a holiday called Ostatki, which is translated as the "lasts," meaning the last day to party before the Lenten season.

Hungary

In Mohács in Hungary, the Busójárás involves locals dressing up in woolly costumes, with scary masks and noise-makers. They perform a burial ritual to symbolise the end of winter and spike doughnuts on weapons to symbolise the defeat of Ottomans.

Latin America

Bolivia

Main article: Carnaval de Oruro

One of the most vibrant carnivals in South America is La Diablada carnival, which takes place in the city of Oruro in central Bolivia. It is celebrated in honor of the patron saint of the miners, Vírgen de Socavon (the Virgin of the Tunnels). Over 50 parade groups dance, sing and play music over a five kilometre-long course. Participants dress up as demons, devils, angels, Incas and Spanish conquerors. The parade runs from morning until late at night, 18 hours a day, on the Saturday and Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

Brazil

Main article: Brazilian Carnival

An important part of the Brazilian Carnival takes place in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, with their samba schools. These are large, formal social entities with thousands of members and a theme each year. Blocos are small informal groups also with a definite theme, usually satirical of the current political situation, and bandas are samba musical bands usually formed by enthusiasts in the same neighborhood.

From Salvador, Bahia another form of the Brazilian Carnival, the Trio Elétrico, has spread throughout the country. A trio elétrico is an adapted truck, with giant speakers and a platform where musicians play songs of local genres such as Axé music and Maracatu. The truck is driven around the city with the crowd following dancing and singing. It was originally staged by three Salvador musicians, Armandinho, Dodo & Osmar in the decade of 1950.

Pernambuco has large Carnival celebrations, including the frevo, typical Pernambuco music.

Abadá

An abadá is a shirt that you buy that allows you to "play" or follow inside the ropes the trucks that the carnival bands play on in Salvador and other cities. Without the abadá, you cannot be inside the roped-off area for the band.

Caribbean Carnival

Main article: Caribbean Carnival

Most of the islands in the Caribbean celebrate carnival. The largest and most well-known celebration is held in Trinidad and Tobago. Aruba, Curaçao, Barbados, Saint Thomas, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are also known for lengthy carnival seasons and large celebrations.

Trinidad

In Trinidad, Carnival is a holiday season that lasts over a month and culminates in large celebrations in Port of Spain on the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday with Dimanche Gras, J'ouvert, and Mas (masquerade). Carnival is a festive time of costumes, dance, music, competitions, rum, and partying (also referred to as fete-ing). Music styles associated with Carnival include soca, calypso, and steel pan.

The annual Carnival steel pan competition known as the National Panorama competition is held in the weeks preceding Carnival with the finals held on the Saturday before the main event. Pan players compete in various categories such as "Conventional Steel band" or Single Pan" by performing renditions of the current year's calypsos. Preliminary judging of this event for "Conventional Steel bands" has been recently moved to the individual pan yards where steel bands practice their selections for the competition.

"Dimanche Gras" takes place on the Sunday night before Ash Wednesday. Here the Calypso Monarch is chosen (after competition) and prize money and a vehicle bestowed. Also the King and Queen of the bands are crowned, where each band to parade costumes for the next two days submits a king and queen, from which an overall winner is chosen. These usually involve huge, complex, beautiful costumes.

J'ouvert, or "Dirty Mas", takes place before dawn on the Monday (known as Carnival Monday) before Ash Wednesday. It means "goodbye to the flesh" or "welcome to daybreak" (depending on the interpretation). Here revelers dress in old clothes and cover themselves in mud, oil paint and body paint. A common character to be seen at this time is "Jab-jabs" (devils, blue, black or red) complete with pitch fork, pointed horns and tails. Here also, a king and queen of the J'ouvert are chosen, based on their representation of current political/social events/issues.

Carnival Monday involves the parade of the mas bands, but on a casual or relaxed scale. Usually revelers wear only parts of their costumes, and the purpose of the day is more one of fun than display or competition. Also on Carnival Monday, Monday Night Mas is popular in most towns and especially the capital, where smaller bands participate in competition.

Carnival Tuesday is when the main events of the carnival take place. On this day full costume is worn complete with make up and body paints/adornments. Each band has their costume presentation based on a particular theme, and contain various sections (some consisting of thousands of revelers) which reflect these themes. Here the street parade and eventual crowning of the best bands take place. After following a route where various judging points are located, the mas bands eventually converge on the Queen's Park Savannah to pass "on the stage" to be judged once and for all. Also taking place on this day is the crowning of the Road March king or queen, where the singer of the most played song over the two days of the carnival is crowned winner, complete with prize money and usually a vehicle.

This parading and revelry goes on into the night of the Tuesday. Ash Wednesday itself, whilst not an official holiday, is marked by most by visiting the beaches that abound both Trinidad and Tobago. The most populated being Maracas beach and Manzanilla beach, where huge beach parties take place every Ash Wednesday. These provide a cool down from the previous five days of hectic partying, parades and competitions, and are usually attended by the whole family.

Colombia

Main article: Carnival in Colombia

Although it was introduced by the Spaniards and has incorporated elements from the European cultures, it has managed to re-interpret traditions that belonged to the African and Amerindian cultures of Colombia. There is documentary evidence that the carnival existed in Colombia in the 18th century and had already caused concerned to the colonial authorities, who censored the celebrations, especially in the mains centers of power such as Cartagena, Bogotá and Popayán.

The carnival, therefore, continued its evolution and re-interpretation in the small and at that time unimportant towns where celebrations did not offend the ruling elites. The result was the uninterrupted celebration of carnival festivals in Barranquilla (Barranquilla Carnival), and other villages along the lower Magdalena River in northern Colombia, and in Pasto, Nariño (Blacks and Whites Carnival), in the south of the country. In modern times, there have been attempts to introduce the carnival in the capital, Bogotá, in the early 20th century, but it has always failed to gain the approval of authorities. The Bogotá Carnival has had to wait until the 21st century to be resurrected, this time by the authorities of the city.

Honduras

In La Ceiba in Honduras carnival is held on the third Saturday of every May to commemorate San Isidro, and is the largest in Central America.

North America

Canada

The Quebec City Winter Carnival is the biggest winter-themed carnival in the world. It depends on good snowfalls and very cold weather, to keep snowy ski trails in good condition and the many ice sculptures intact. For this reason it does not observe the lunar based Easter celebration but is fixed instead to the last days of January and first days of February of the solar calendar.

United States

Main article: Mardi Gras Main article: New Orleans Mardi Gras

Carnival celebrations, usually referred to as Mardi Gras, are common in the Gulf Coast area of the Southern United States. They originated in the onetime French Colonial capitals of Mobile, Alabama; New Orleans, Lousiana; and Biloxi, Mississippi, all of which have celebrated for many years with street parades and masked balls. The best-known, most elaborate and and most popular events are in New Orleans, while other South Louisiana cities such as Lafayette, New Roads and Houma are the site of famous Carnival celebrations of their own.

The West Indian American Day Carnival held each Labor Day in New York City is known as the largest street festival in America.

Funfairs

Swingboats at a funfair in Yate, Bristol, England

Many carnivals also have an associated funfair (or fun fair) with a number of amusement rides and side stalls. In America a smaller or non-permanent funfair is called a carnival in contrast to the permanent amusement park. See also Circus (performing art).

References

McGowan, Chris and Pessanha, Ricardo. "The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil." 1998. 2nd edition. Temple University Press. ISBN 1-56639-545-3

External links

Categories: