The word carnival comes to us from the Latin «carne vale», which means either «farewell to the flesh» or «farewell to meat», and is most often associated with the pre-lenten Catholic festivals when the pleasures of the world are indulged before meat, wine, women and song were renounced for the 40 days of Christian Lent.
Some believe that carnival celebrations spread through Europe with the ancient Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Bacchanalia, form which the word bacchanal comes. Others believe that the Catholic Church harnessed ancient pagan fertility rights which date back to an earlier time, perhaps even our passage through the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East, or to mans journey out of Africa.
Traveling Carnivals in Britain
What ever it’s exact source, the word «carnival» today means many different things, and is celebrated in many different ways. In the United Kingdom, and some parts of Europe and North America, a carnival is a traveling circus (a Latin word associated with exotic animal acts and Roman gladiatorial games), which has a variety of rides, and games. The most noteworthy of those amusement being the carousel, or merry-go-round, on which children ride prancing horses and all manner of strange beasts, to the accompaniment of now traditional calliope music.
The Karnevals of Europe
Today, many other parts of Europe celebrate Carnivals with processions, floats, merry making, masked balls, fireworks and other assorted amusements. Chief among these are the carnivals or karnevals of Belgium, Rijeka in Croatian, Cyprus, the Masopust festival in the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Patras in Greece, Mohace in Hungary, Viareggio in Italy, Venice, Malta, Poland, and Spain. Paris was also well know for it carnival celebrations prior to the French Revolution.
Carnival in the New World
In the New World carnivals sprang up where European Catholics meet enslaved Africans, who themselves had long standing traditions of masking, speech making, singing, and dancing to mark important occasions. In these cultural crucibles carnivals took on the individual character allowed it by circumstance, events, popular demand, official dictates, and religious constraints.
In Rio, everything stops but the clock for 4 days. Every Theater, nightclub, and street corner becomes a dance hall for the confetti-bedecked subjects of King Momo. In New Orleans, Mardi Gras is famous for trinket throwing revelers, parade floats, and overt sexuality. Carnivals in Panama, Argentina, Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador and some cities in Mexico took on their own flavors, as did carnivals in the Bahamian islands and throughout the Caribbean. Of these last, Trinidad and Tobago Carnival lead the region by inventing the steel band, which today is associated with all tropical island vacations; birthing Soca, the new sound of the Caribbean; developing costume design to new heights; and becoming a mecca for merry making with carnival celebrations that have been described as the greatest street party in the world.
Reintroducing Carnival to Europe
Today, New World style carnivals, particularly the carnival and Soca music of Trinidad and Tobago, have followed Caribbean and South American immigrants to North American cities like Boston, Miami, New York and Toronto. Trinidad and Tobago’s Caribbean style carnivals have also found fertile ground wherever Caribbean immigrants took up residence in Europe and Britain. Carnival has now come full circle, and Europe’s largest street fair is the Notting Hill Carnival in London, England.
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