Trinidad and Tobago is in the throes of its annual carnival fever, with myriad activities and events leading up to March 4 and 5, which are officially 2018 Carnival Monday and Tuesday. But what is carnival? What are the ingredients that make up this bold, colourful and expressive manifestation of the twin-island republic’s creativity and imagination?
History undeniably underpins all aspects of carnival, despite differing interpretations or versions as to how and when it all began. Trinidad’s coloured and white French (‘French Creole’) population in pre-emancipation 19th Century celebrated the end of a season of feasting and merrymaking with its exclusive carnival. The festival saw an embracing of fantasy, breaking boundaries of class and colour with the help of costuming and masks. It was a carnival of antithesis – playing the opposite in fantasy of what one was in reality.
