Carnival in Trinidad is not an event. It is a season that starts with the new year, with a series of fêtes (large parties with live music and lots of food), pan yard, calypso, and Soca music performances, costume competitions, kiddie carnivals, and so many other events, that it staggers the imagination and drains the physical endurance of any normal person. There is no way one can participate in all of the events. Taking into consideration our interests, physical endurance, and wallets, we selected a few major events to attend with Jesse James (“Members Only Maxi Taxi and Tour Services”).
Some of the Carnival events occurring in February and March
Mas Camps Visit. The “Mas” camps (short for “masquerade”) create costumes and organize “bands” to parade during Jouvert (dirty mas) and the Parade of Bands (pretty mas). We visited the Vernon Wallace Jouvert Mas Camp and the Trini Revelers [Pretty] Mas Camp.
Northern Region – National Large Conventional Judges Visit: Prior to the steel orchestra panoramas held in Queens Park Savannah, the judges visit the pan yards to select the top bands that will participate in the semi-final and final competitions. Entire neighborhoods flock to the pan yards to watch their favorite bands practice, warm up, and perform for the judges (who have been driving around town trying to get through the traffic from one yard to another). We visited three pan bands: The Renegades, the Silver Stars, and the Invaders, all of whom made the finals. (Jesse only takes us to the best of the best.)
Old Yard – Old Time Carnival: We spent a day on the fair grounds for the University of the West Indies (UWI) where we were entertained by students from the fine arts program, as well as artists and old school performers from the community, some of whom had been portraying their characters for decades. The Old Time Carnival could be considered to consist of three acts:
Social Commentary: UWI fine arts students mocked school administrators, politicians, and current events. For example, an orange juice can with white powder billowing out of it mocked a recent drug bust, and “Project Runway Trinidad” became “Project Run Away” with grotesque characters portraying the models.
Street Performers: Students from UWI, dressed as traditional carnival characters, roamed the grounds, interacting with the audience and each other. “Baby Dolls” sought their “Baby Papa” and the “Thief” stole our hats, only to be caught by”The Police” officer. “Misie Gwo Patat” (Big Chest) flirted with all the men, and a doctor and a nurse (wearing red high-heeled shoes) sought out prospective patients.
Traditional Mas Characters: Troupes of performers put on mock fights (whip-fighting and stick-fighting). The “Fancy Sailors,” the “Land Ship,” and a pan band led the audience in song & dance. “Moko Jumbie” [stilt walkers], gorillas and blue devils thrilled the crowd with their acrobatics and antics. “The Bat,” “Burrokeet,” and “The Bull” all made an appearance. “The Imp” lassoed “The Dragon,” and “The Midnight Robbers” told stories in “robber talk,” a distinctive poetic type of speech.
Senior Kings & Queens Semi-Finals: The stars of the Carnival are the King and Queen, chosen during Dimanche Gras on “Carnival Sunday.” Competitors for the title of King & Queen of the Carnival are also referred to as the Kings & Queens, and all will eventually parade individually, or more likely accompanying a band during the Parade of Bands. We attended the Senior Kings & Queens semi-finals at Queens Park Savannah, and were treated to a display of incredible costumes, some as big as 20 feet tall, 20 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The participants had to dance to lively songs and demonstrate the ability to control their costumes while doing so. One unfortunate performer fell over and the headline in the next day’s newspaper was “King Toppled.” (Note: We would have had to pay $1000 [US] for a “press pass” to take pictures of this event, so the following photos were pulled off the Trinidad Express newspaper site: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/).
Monarch Spirit: The Normandie Hotel hosted a series of shows (“Spirit of Love,” “Hearts on Fire,” “The Power of Music”) featuring various calypso and Soca artists. We attended the “Monarch Spirit” show that presented vocalists performing vintage and old school calypso. Jesse’s “yachties” had a sumptuous dinner at the hotel, followed by front-row seats “Under the Trees.”
Jouvert (or J’ouvert) is the start of the final two days of Carnival celebrations. Also known as “Dirty Mas,” Jouvert is a large street party celebrated during the early hours of “Carnival Monday.” People join a “band” to parade with, and there are so many bands, and so many people, that each band is assigned it’s own route, and starting times are staggered. Inevitably bands cross paths or catch each other coming and going, and then they mingle and engage in some good-natured splattering of mud and paint. We “chipped” (a sort of staggering dance) with the Trevor Wallace Mas Camp (about 1500 people) into Port of Spain accompanied by the music truck, the food truck, the drink truck, and the paint and mud truck. While the music blared, we chipped, ate, drank, and smeared paint and mud on each other’s bodies. In the spirit of Jouvert, we were “baptized” by the mud, the music, and the rising sun.
Parade of Bands: The final event of Carnival was a Parade of Bands that started the morning of “Carnival Tuesday” and went until midnight. It seemed like everybody in Trinidad either participated in one of the “bands” or was watching the Parade. The bands consisted of spectacularly dressed dancers all chippen’ to Ministry of Road (MOR) by Trinidadian Soca artist Machel Montano. Ministry of Road (MOR) won the prestigious honor of being the “Carnival Road March,” the musical composition played along the parade route, and play it did – over and over and over and over and over…
There were the traditional “Old Time” Carnival characters: sailors, Indians, Moko Jumbies, minstrels, robbers, bats, whip-fighters, gorillas, and big-breasted, big-bottomed “Misie Gwos.”
Parade of Bands
The most distinguishing feature of this Parade, though, was the thousands of participants in the large number of bands with large groups of happy dancers wearing elaborate feathered headdresses, beads and elaborate costumes; chippen’ and winin’ their way down the parade route; pushing and shoving to get in front of the cameras; and, waving to friends and family, celebrating the day, their traditions and their culture. It was a joyous event!
Feathers and Beads
Even though we sacrificed sailing north with many of our friends to stay in Trinidad for Carnival, Mark & I have no regrets. Carnival has been the most spectacular experience we have had in the Caribbean, and we are thrilled that we stayed to be part of it. I do have to say, though, that if I never hear Ministry of Road (MOR) ever again in my lifetime, I will be a happy woman.
Mark & Willie 