As we have reported in earlier posts, Trini's love to party. And the biggest party of the year for them is Carnival. It happens every year on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and the start of lent. It is the culmination of a whole year's worth of planning and parties (you know, to get ready!).
The festival has deep roots and is a long standing tradition which goes back to the times when there were slaves here in Trinidad. They were permitted to party for these two days and they started dressing up in costumes and parading in the streets. The costumes became very ornate and usually made fun of the 'masters' in some form.
It has evolved with the times, but many of the old traditions still exist. The different groups which parade through the streets are called bands. There are still some bands which are very ornate and serious about the costume aspect. They have themes and compete for the best band award every year. Other bands have evolved into more fun themes, like the HARTS Band which we have joined. Their theme this year is Tribute to Hollywood and the costumes are named after various movies, we are part of the The Last Samurai group.
Here is a link to their site you can see ours and other costumes:
We've been told that this band is much less serious and many of the people (especially the guys) don't wear the entire costume (which is good because I'm not sure I'm interested in the big hat!). The ladies don't have a lot of costume to leave off!
If you go to the site you can see that this band is more about the party. Check out the pictures from last year. Did we mention that the basic premise of the carnival is to parade through the streets of Port of Spain for two days - Monday and Tuesday. There is lots of music, dancing, drinking and wining (trust me boys, you will like wining!).
According to all of our friends, Carnival is the party of the year here in Trinidad. If anyone would like to join us, you are more than welcome to head south, we'd love to share it with you.
2 comments:
Nice one! Wow, Carnival looks like a ton of fun. Stu, you are going to be hot in that cod-piece!
Enjoy!
Hey Guys! Wow, it really does sound like Trinidad is one big party after another. It sounds like you are making the most of it all - good for you! Have a great weekend. We miss you. Love, San xoxo
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