The History Of Carnival
By C.Charles
Elders from the Windrush generation created St Pauls Carnival, and over the last 50 years, it has grown to be the biggest annual event in Bristol. With many Bristolians gearing up for extravagant celebration taking place on Saturday the 6th July 2019 we decided to take a brief look at Carnival’s history.
What is Carnival?
Carnival is a cultural celebration of freedom found in many countries around the world. Hundreds of years ago, followers of the Catholic religion in Italy started the tradition of holding extravagant costume festivals right before the first day of Lent. Most Catholics do not eat meat during Lent; because of this, they called their festival, Carnevale — which means “to put away the meat.” As time passed, Carnivals in Italy became very popular and quickly spread to France, Spain, and all the Catholic countries in Europe. Later, when the French, Spanish, and Portuguese began to take control of the Americas and other parts of the world, they brought their tradition of celebrating CarnivalCarnival with them.
Carnival In The Caribbean
In many parts of the world, where Catholic Europeans slave traders set up colonies, CarnivalCarnival took root.
“To fully understand how CarnivalCarnival as we know it came about, it is imperative to understand the whole history of T&T as a country. Christopher Columbus “discovered” the Island in 1498, and gallantly claimed the land for Spain. Spain repaid his loyalty by mainly ignoring the Island for over two hundred and fifty years.
All the way until 1776, when the Spanish king José de Gálvez finally had a revelation and issued a Cedula of Population, a decree that effectively invited residents from surrounding French-administered territories to move to Trinidad. Another Cedula of Population in 1783 brought a new influx of French Creoles, and the Island became irrevocably stamped with these cultural influences.
In 1797, Great Britain took over control of the territory and, in true British fashion, immediately went about colonizing it. Meanwhile, the ongoing revolution in France was still spurring on migrants from its territories into Trinidad. Thus, Trinidad was, at that time, a British Crown Colony with a mainly French-speaking population.
The British imposed strict martial law during Christmas, and Lent was a period of sacrifice and solemnity. So naturally, everyone partied between the two seasons. These festivities were markedly different depending on one’s social class and standing. The rich, white French Catholic planters and their elite associates staged elaborate masquerade balls with masks and costumes. Their subordinates, the enslaved Africans, mimicked their actions in their own clandestine celebrations which incorporated similar elements, including masks and costumes.
In 1838, slaves in Trinidad were freed, but they still were not allowed to participate in CarnivalCarnival. This small matter of being banned did not deter them from carrying on as they please. This led to the Canboulay riots in the 1880s, which are still commemorated today.” – lifeintrinidadandtobago.com
Trinidad and Tobago lead the way with the Africans on the Island participating in the celebration. Carnival spread to many other islands, where the tradition was fused with unique local cultures. Today some festivals have moved off the Easter calendar and are celebrated in the late spring or summer.
The African Influence!
An important aspect of Caribbean Carnivals are the ancient African traditions of parading and moving in circles through villages in costumes and masks. It is believed that Circling villages heal problems, bring good fortune, and calm discontent relatives who had died and passed into the next world. Another Carnival tradition taken directly from Ancient Africa is the putting together of natural objects (bones, grasses, beads, shells, and fabric) to create a piece of sculpture, a mask, or costume. Each object or combination of objects represents or honours a specific idea or spiritual force.
Another natural object used is feathers. Africans in their motherland use feathers on masks and headdresses as a symbol of our ability to “rise above problems, pains, heartbreaks, illness — to travel to another world to be reborn and to grow spiritually.”
When The Drum Beat!
African dance and music traditions transformed the early carnival celebrations in the Americas, as the African drum, large puppets, stick fighters, and stilt dancers began to make their appearances in the carnival festivities.
Creating A Carnival Production
It takes many weeks to put a carnival band together. Production often includes welding; sewing; glueing; applying feathers, sequins, foil papers, glitter along with an abundance of imagination, creativity, energy, and dedication. Larger costumes are created by bending wire into shapes, then covering it with paper mâché, foam, and other materials. The costume must be secure enough to move and dance across stages and streets while still mesmerizing spectators and judges.
The costumes are inspired by the theme of the Carnival, which is then developed into costume illustrations. The costumes are then sewn and fitted to the dancers and band members. The sessions where the costumes are created are known as Mass Camps. Every band’s success comes down to teamwork as working together increases the bands chance of outshining their competition through creativity.
The Birth of the Steelband
Another aspect of the Caribbean CarnivalCarnival is the steel pan. The steel pan first started making its appearance in Caribbean CarnivalCarnival in the early 20th Century. The steelpan instrument is made from used oil drums that have been cut, then shaped, pounded, and tuned. Every carnival season, steel pan players practice for months on end, and steel bands can consist of up to two hundred players. After months of preparation, the steel bands take to the stadiums and the streets, creating some of the most beautiful music you have ever heard.
“The history of the steel pan in Trinidad and Tobago is directly tied to the banning of all types of drumming in Trinidad in the 1880s. Though this ban was not readily accepted and rioting resulted, ultimately Africans applied and readapted their tradition of the drum to create new forms and mediums of music, including the tamboo bamboo, a rhythmic ensemble made up of bamboo joints beaten together and pounded on the ground. Biscuit tins and dustbins were manipulated and crafted into instruments, becoming the first “pans.” When you explore the origins of pan you quickly learn that this creative musical expression came about through years of oppression and sacrifice.
Come Together In Celebration!
Once a Portuguese colony, Brazil is famous for its Carnival, as is Mardi Gras in Louisiana (where African-Americans mixed with French settlers and Native Americans). Carnival celebrations are now found throughout the Caribbean in Grenada, Dominica, Haiti, Cuba, St. Thomas, Jamaica, Barbados, St. Marten; in Central and South America in Belize, Panama, Brazil; and in large cities in the UK, Canada and the U.S. where Caribbean people have settled.
Carnival is a creative tool for self-expression and exploration, a medium that connects us to our roots, celebrates our strength as a people, and teaches people about different cultures uniting the world. The passion, power and unique creativity that is expressed through the art aspect of CarnivalCarnival can empower and transform lives.