What is Carnival?
Carnival is an exuberant celebration of the carnal sins, as its Latin name suggests (carni=meat, val=galore). This developed due to the Italian church’s rule of demanding celibacy for 40 days before lent. What’s the natural thing to do when you know you are going to starve? That’s right, to stuff your self! Carnival started in Florence, Italy and was soon picked up by the Portuguese living in Brazil centuries ago. The Florentine feasts involved masks to keep party goers identity and reputation intact. The feather costumes were influenced by the Brazilian natives and the drums from the African slaves. Mix it all up, and never stop, and you get a 200 year tradition involving all the senses for the 5 days before ash Wednesday.
Outside of the Caribbean Carnival represents an amusement park. Within the Caribbean however, Carnival is a festival of colors, which is transformed into costumes (Mas short for Masqurade), calypso, steel band music, dance and an array of different ethnic food and Caribbean art; which attracts millions of people from around the globe. Different writers have indicated that Carnival originated in Africa and Europe. According to a study conducted by Dr. Hollis of Urban Liverpool, Carnival was originated in Africa. From the early morning activities of the slave who were then limited to the slave yard because they could not venture out onto the streets.
