Shelley V. Worrell explores the “Spirit of Carnival” around the Caribbean and the diaspora:
February in the Caribbean is synonymous with Carnival. The pre-Lenten festival offers exciting and diverse experiences from Haiti and Dominican Republic in the north, to Guadeloupe and Martinique in the French Caribbean, to Aruba and Curacao in the Dutch Caribbean, to the southern mecca of Carnivals, Trinidad & Tobago. The Caribbean region has a multiplicity of cultural traditions reflected in masquerade, music, and heritage events dating back to the 18th century.
Let me share a few things that my travels have taught me about Caribbean Carnivals:
- Carnival is MAS.
From feathered costumes often referred to as “pretty mas”, to traditional characters such as the Jab Jab, Dame Lorraine, Vaval, or Mas a Saint-Jean, to larger-than-life King & Queen costumes, to colorful displays of flags, Carnival is not a singular experience. With its traditions and practices based…
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