Not just two days of Carnival, but a full season

Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago is as much a season as it is a festival. The festivities begin after the Christmas food and shopping for presents have been eaten and bought. The ritual of Carnival involves more than buying a costume and jumping in the streets. Let us initiate you into the customs of Carnival.

We begin the season with the opening of the calypso tents. To go to a tent doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to hear calypsonians sing underneath a tent, you may actually go to a theatre, Queen’s Park Savannah or even the Hasley Crawford Stadium. It is here that you can tell how the season is going to shape up and if you have been away from the island and lost track of the politics happening, the tents are a good place to become reacquainted again. Unfortunately, the tent experiences these days are fewer and further between, though still a hallmark of the Carnival experience.

To truly experience the essence of Carnival, you must take in the sweet music of the steelpan. You can visit the various panyards around the country. On the nights where they maybe practicing for the upcoming competitions entrance will be free-just support the local vendors-but once you visit on the night when preliminary judging is taking place the panyards usually charge a nominal fee to aid in their upkeep. There are also pan competitions that you can attend where the best of the best is chosen. A list of these can be found in the daily newspapers. In addition to this, there are also the various types of calypso competitions such as Soca Monarch, Chutney Soca Monarch and Calypso Monarch.

Trinidad is known as the island for throwing a fete for everything-from children doing well in exams to our cricketers losing a match. For those of you who have never experienced our Carnival, a fete is a big party, usually held outdoors or at one of our many nightspots. It consists mainly of a deejay playing recorded music or sometimes there is a live band performance. Sometimes there is a food bar, but the drinks never stop flowing. A Carnival fete however is quite different from an ordinary fete. Why? Because it’s all part of the season’s festivities and at almost all of these Carnival fetes, there is guaranteed live entertainment. Some of these Carnival fetes may also be all-inclusive, whereby food and beverages are provided, advanced payment is recommended. The week before Carnival, is the week to experience all the fetes, because there is one scheduled for each night. It is the week when your stamina has to be up to par and you have to have a different outfit for each night. Though the spirit of Carnival breathes on the nation from the time it’s launched, you truly begin to feel it during this week. The excitement begins to build, because, the mas makers are at the high points of their creations, preparing for competition as well as the street parade. Revellers are getting ready to collect their costumes from the various mas camps-where costumes are made and masqueraders collect and pay for it.

Now you might think that Carnival is only for adults, with the panyards, the fetes and two big days of the masquerade. This is not necessarily so. The children also have their time on the streets of the capital. Carnival Saturday is the day when all children’s bands take to the streets and head for the Queen Park Savannah where their costumes will be adjudicated to determine who will earn the prestigious title of band of the year.

The big masquerade is celebrated over a two-day period. It begins with J’ouvert which is the Patois version of saying ‘the day opens’. Preparations for J’ouvert are always cloaked in darkness, to give that semblance of role reversal, where those in positions of power are mocked by those who either work for them or are in lower positions. J’ouvert is about mud, oil, devils and picong. As the sun begins to become full-fledged in the sky, the muddy and oily masqueraders look for their homes to wash off in order that they ready for an afternoon of pretty mas. Monday afternoon pretty mas, does not demand that you wear your complete costume, in fact some bands such as Minshall, actually give their masqueraders a Monday garb. Tuesday begins at 6:30am, where there is that hustle to meet your band to begin the day’s events of parading in the streets for 24 hours. Okay, so you have been ceremoniously inducted into our Carnival ritual. The climax comes when you cross what is known as the big stage – Queen Park Savannah – where for 15 minutes you have that entire stage for yourself along with your section members. This is an experience that cannot be put into words, but jubilant and orgasmic come close to explaining the feeling you have when you cross that stage.

After all of this how could you not celebrate in this festival?