Carnival invades Caribbean area
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – Dripping in sequins and sweat from the sweltering tropical heat, masqueraders in beaded bikinis, towering headdresses and body paint cast off their inhibitions Sunday for the Caribbean’s biggest and most lavish bash.
Leaders from 53 masquerade bands woke early to groom feathered costumes and practice moves for the crowning of the Carnival King and Queen on Dimanche Gras, or Carnival Sunday.
Also being judged Sunday was the calypso contest, with judges choosing from songs tackling topics ranging from love to Trinidad’s wave of kidnappings.
The Caribbean festivities are expected to draw more than 1 million people – almost doubling the Caribbean nation’s population of 1.3 million – and generate $1 billion in business, organizers say. This year’s ticket sales have already surpassed last year’s.
Similar parties erupted all over the Caribbean.
In Dominica, thousands of jubilant revelers packed a concert square Saturday night to applaud reigning calypso champion The King Dice as he fended off challenges from nine other contestants and retained his crown after electrifying the crowd with songs “Puppet Master” and “My Brother For Me.”
In the French Caribbean territory of Martinique, thousands smeared their bodies with the traditional tar and sugarcane syrup and prepared to flood streets alongside colorful puppets called “Bwa Bwa.”
In Haiti, few revelers showed up as celebrations in the volatile capital of Port-au-Prince began Sunday, which was also the first anniversary of the rebellion that led to the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Security concerns kept many away even as hundreds of Haitian police and U.N. soldiers lined the 2-mile parade route as a precaution.
Carnival was introduced to Trinidad by French immigrants in the 1700s. Before Ash Wednesday and Lent, sugar plantation owners doused themselves in molasses and dressed up as slaves. The slaves – celebrating the end of the sugar cane harvest – dressed up in pantaloons and robes to parody their masters.
This morning, called J’Ouvert (Opening Day), brings a re-enactment of the Canboulay Riots of 1881, when soldiers were beaten back with sticks and stoned by black masqueraders for attempting to stop them taking part in Carnival.