The History of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival
Trinidad and Tobago Carnival
in my humble opinion is the greatest show on earth and the biggest street party
ever. I know there are other
Carnivals throughout the Caribbean, Brazil, Miami, Notthing Hill, Venice just
to name a few. I like most people
believed that Carnival Monday and Tuesday was a Roman Catholic / Christian
event because they were always before Ash Wednesday. In doing this research I realized that I
wrong, so wrong. I would like to focus
on History of Carnival and, share with you what I have learned, in particularly on the evolution of Carnival.
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| Party Animals in Showtime Carnival |
What is Carnival?
According to the Oxford
dictionary, Carnival is “a period of public revelry at a
regular time each year, typically during the week before Lent in Roman Catholic
countries, involving processions, music, dancing, and the use of masquerade.”
Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago is considered the greatest show on earth or the
biggest street party on earth and attracts visitors from all over the world.
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| More Party Animals in Showtime Carnival |
Ancient Egypt
Most scholars believe that the
concept of Carnival started around 4000 BC in Africa, namely in Kemet which is
commonly known as ancient Egypt. Egypt
had a lot of festivals centered around the spring and fall equinoxes and the
winter and spring solstices (Massey, 1992), they even built their temples and
pyramids in alignment with their astronomical philosophy and the seasons (Lockyer,
1894).
The festivals of ancient were in
celebration of the cycles life, fertility, the universe and nature through the
acts of revelry (Carnival, 2020). They would celebrate the end of winter, the
coming of spring, the end of the harvest season and the beginning of
winter.
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| Source : Feast of Opet in Ancient Egypt by National Geographic |
Many say Carnival is the
celebration of the coming of Spring (The Economist, 2018). Ancient Egyptians celebrated pre-spring or
new birth festivals dedicated to the Egyptian God Osiris (Carnivaland, 2020). According to Waseem al-Sisi, professor of
Egyptology, “Ancient Egyptians used to fast for 30 days a year” as both their
laws and the people believed in the act of restraint and abstaining from food
and drink for periods of time to create balance (Solaiman, 2017).
Egyptians also observed a forty-day fast that began on January 6th
(11 Tybi, Egyptian Calendar) following the Feast of Theophany (or Epiphany),
which in Greek means “the appearance of God” (Nkurmah, 2018). During this time the people would go to River
Nile and immerse themselves in the “cleansing water” at the break of dawn. The cold and freezing water would send the
bathers into a mystical celebration while shuddering and trying to get
warm. The men would celebrate on one
side of the river and the women would revel on the other side during the festival.
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| Source: Cleopatra Dream by Egyptian Independent |
Herodotus, known to the Greeks as the “Father of History” visited ancient Egypt (Kemet) in 450 BC. He described the local Egyptians as having “Wooly Hair” and “Black Skinned”. In his book, “The Histories” Herodotus described some of the ancient Egyptian festivals and ceremonies much like how we consume alcohol and dance during our modern day Carnival events and street parades (Nantambu, 2005). Also as a side note and according to Dr. Kwame Nantambu (2005), the “legendary founder of Athens, Greece, is an African-Egyptian named "Kekrops”.
Ancient Greece
Alexander the Great and his Army marched into Egypt in 332 BC and were hailed as liberators from the Persian Empire. Alexander himself was pronounced the new "Master of the Universe" and a decedent of the ancient Egyptian god Amun by the Oracle of Amun at the Siwa Oasis (Memphis, 2020). The Greeks have been living and learning in Ancient Egypt
for years before Alexander's arrival, and as such there
cultures were very much integrated. In the
Elysian mysteries the Greeks also celebrated the dead in winter and the rebirth
in spring where everything is born again new (XpatAthens, 2020).
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| A Greek parade |
The Dionysiaka or Dionysia (the original Greek word for Carnival) was traditionally celebrated for three (3) weeks before the start of the Lenten season (Greeking, 2016). The Greek word “Tessarakosti” (or Lent) translates to “the Forty” (Russo, 2013) In ancient Greece when the local inhabitants still believed in the Gods of Olympus they would hold a celebration to honor Dionysus the ancient God of wine. This celebration was held around springtime, which was viewed as a period of fertility, and involved private parties and public parades. The Greeks would wear masks, ride on floats, and danced in the streets singing songs. This celebration was celebrated before “Apokries” which translates to, abstinence from meat or away from meat (Greeking, 2016).
The Greek word “Carouse”
translates to a nocturnal (at night) and noisy procession of people who have
been drinking a lot, and parading after dinner with torches and singing songs
and playing instruments in honor Dionysus who later became “Bacchus” the Greek/Roman
God of Wine. The word Ko’mos or “Revelry”
translates to rebellion, merrymaking, noisy celebrations and festivals (Phillips,
2015). These festivities held by both the Greeks and
Romans became associated with feasting, parties, banquets, drunken celebrations
and orgies (Eco, et al., 1984).
This act of drinking, carousing and revelry evolved into the word “Bacchanal”.
According to Greek Historian Will Durant (2020), “the crowds of celebrators would drink without restraint, they marched in wild procession, and as they drank and danced they fell into a frenzy in which all bonds were loosed.” The Greeks would often celebrate the act of Carnival by celebrating the world upside down, where Kings, Queen and Rulers would be lowered and become as common folk, the citizens would wear Crowns and animals would have power and become Rulers. This act of role playing going against civilized life was to make fun, mockery, satires and parodies of social and political power.
Ancient Rome
In the past Ancient Rome was the epicenter for Carnival celebrations. The Romans adopted a lot of the Greek Gods and traditions which included the Celebration of Bacchanal or Bacchanalia in honour of Bacchus the ancient Greek and Roman god of wine and revelry, he was also called Dionysus by the Greeks. Brazilian television producer Cláudio Petraglia, said that today’s carnival “originates from the feasts of Dionysus and Bacchus and that, really, is the nature of carnival.” (Watch Tower, 2020)
Carnival comes from the latin word “Carne” which translates to the root word for meat, flesh, sensual or sexual pleasures. “Vale” which translates to "farewell." During lent, the Romans would bid farewell to a lot of fun things like sex, meat and revelry (Phillips, 2015). The Latin word “Quadragesima” also translates to “the Forty”. Ancient Romans had deep desire to have large celebrations and festivals before fasting would begin. During this period of fasting or lent, when no parties could be held and meat was forbidden for the forty days of lent. (Russo, 2013) Carnival is also linked to the pagan Saturnalia festival of ancient Rome. The Carnival celebration encouraged and evolved into the act of indulgence and having what the person desired.
The Roman Catholic Church
In 325 AD, Emperor Constantine
convened a meeting of Christian leaders to resolve important disputes at the
Council of Nicaea. Since the church believed that the resurrection took place
on a Sunday, the Council determined that Easter should always fall on the first
Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. Easter has since
remained without a fixed date but proximate to the full moon, which coincided
with the start of Passover. (Gillan, 2020). Following the Council of Nicea in 325 AD,
the length of Lent also became fixed at forty days (Russo, 2013). According to Nicholas Russo, forty days as a
period of fasting can be found in bible scripture as Moses fasts twice on Mt. Sinai for forty
days and nights The term
“Revelry” appears three times in the Christian Greek Scriptures and not always
in favorable way in Romans 13:13; Galatians 5:21; and 1 Peter 4:3.
Christianity came to the Caribbean during the age of exploration and discovery through countries such as Spain, Portugal, France and England.
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad ceased to be Spanish Colony when the last Spanish Governor Don Jose Maria Chacon surrendered a defenceless Trinidad to the British at the Valsayn Estate (Moodie-Kublalsingh, 2020). The christian French, Spanish and British all Celebrated Christmas, New Years and Carnival with . Carrnival in celebrated on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of the forty (40) day Lenten season before Easter. The Early French in Trinidad from 1783 onward, developed their own Carnival which was seasonal and was celebrated with elegant and extravagant dinners, balls, parties, concerts and festivals lasting from Christmas Day until Ash Wednesday.
Trinidad and Tobago had a lot of sugar cain fields and before Emancipation, if the field was on fire they would have to get all the slaves, night or day, to cut the sugar cane before the fields burned down. The French word Canboulay translates to “Cane Burning”. There is tale of how after Emancipation in 1833, the ex-slaves had cut and picked up pieces of sugar cane, then set the fields on fire and then proceeded down the streets in a big procession singing songs and beating drums while holding pieces of sugar cane over their heads to symbolize their freedom and that they did not have to cut the sugar cane fields when they were on fire. This event according to tradition, started the first Canboulay Carnival street procession. After Emancipation the participation of the ex-slaves in carnival grew significantly.
As in the days of Ancient Rome, the early celebration of the Carnival festival lasted for three (3) days before Ash Wednesday. In 1943 the Carnival parade in was restricted to Monday and Tuesday, due to over 60 years of public criticism from the upper class expressing strong feelings about the desecration of the Sabbath Day (Sunday) and the low standard of the Carnival festival (Carr, 1975). Therefore, that is why Carnival Monday and Tuesday are 2 days before Ash Wednesday
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| Trinidad Band Leader explaining the costume design for 2020 to Manuela |
Calypso and Soca Music
Calypso began to be associated with Carnival because of its iconic lyrics, rhythm and beat. Calypso evolved in to Soca, which is mix of Soul and Calypso music with a much faster tempo that created a feeling of epic joy and euphoria whenever you heard it. There are now different genres of Soca:
- Rapso Music, which is a fusion of Rap and Soca Music,
- Chutney Music, which is a fusion of Indo and Soca Music,
- Ragga Soca, which is a fusion of Jamaican Reggae and Soca Music there is
- Jab Jab Music, which is a fusion of call and response chants, infused with conch shells, heavy drum beasts and Soca Music.
References
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Carr, A., 1975. History of Carnival and its Elements. In: A. Deutsch, ed. David Frost Introduces Trinidad and Tobago,. London: s.n.
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