Parrot Time Magazine

The Thinking of Speaking
Issue #4 July / August 2013
Celebrations
Carnival

Carnival

by Sonja Krüger
July / August 2013 |  asd

Carnival is a celebration that is best known for its participants dancing in elaborate and revealing costumes. This festival is often wildly extravagant and full of suggestive eroticism, taking place in some kind of parade which is more like a circus and street party combined. These celebrations can last for days or even weeks, and are celebrated differently all over the world. Given such a description, it is odd to think that it is a tradition of the normally conservative Catholic religion.

History

Carnival probably originated as a pagan festival in ancient Egypt. The Greeks and Romans may have adopted it for themselves, in the forms of the Roman festivals Lupercalia and Saturnalia and the Greek festival of Dionysia. When the Romans adopted Christianity during the first millennium, they did not want to give up their pagan festival, so they looked for a a way to incorporate it into their new religion.


Painting of Carnival celebration in medieval times

In the Catholic tradition, there is a period of forty days before Jesus' death on Good Friday, called Lent. It begins on Ash Wednesday, which usually occurs in February. During Lent, Catholics are not supposed to eat meat as a reminder of Jesus' sacrifice. Since it is a period of sacrifice, it seemed a good idea to have a large celebration before this reflective time, so a new tradition of eating all the meat in the house as well as having a wild costume festival right before the start of Lent was begun. The name "Carnival" was given to this celebration from the Latin term "carne levare" which translates to "to remove meat".

Over time, the festivals grew in size and popularity, and the practice spread to Spain, France, and other Catholic countries of Europe. When these Europeans invaded the Americas and established colonies, the tradition came with them. Brazil, which was once a Portuguese colony, is famous for its Carnival. Now, Carnival celebrations are found throughout the Caribbean in Barbados, Jamaica, Grenada, Dominica, Haiti, Cuba, St. Thomas and St. Marten. They can also be found in Central and South America in Belize, Panama and Brazil. Even large cities in Canada and the United States where Caribbean people have settled enjoy Carnival. These cities include Brooklyn, Miami, Toronto and San Francisco.

Brazil


Samba dancer in costume in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Perhaps the best known Carnival celebration is the one that takes place in Brazil, where it is more commonly called Carnaval. There, it is generally a six-day party of dancing and singing. Some places have official parades just for watching, while smaller ones are held for people to interact with. Each region has its own particular style and may even specialize in the dance and music they use. Carnival has become the most famous holiday in Brazil and during this time, almost the entire country shuts down to participate. The festivities often continue all day and night and draw in millions of people, even hundreds of thousands of tourists.

If Brazil is the best known country for Carnival, then Rio de Janeiro is the best known city for the festival, where it is considered to be the world's biggest and best party. At the heart of the celebration are the samba schools, with each of these social clubs named after famous Brazilian samba dance style. Each one is based in a different neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, and there is a fierce rivalry between them. Throughout the entire year, members work to create the best costumes, themes, floats and dance performances. During Carnival, each school participates in a parade in the Sambadrome, which is a large building for holding thousands of spectators. There are several Sambadromes all over Brazil.

These parades date back to the 1920s, with the festivities becoming more grand each year. All of the dancers wear spectacular costumes of sequins and feathers that manage to be both eye catching and revealing at the same time. Millions of people also party throughout the city, often dressing in their own exotic costumes and makeup.


Parade with giant dolls in Pernambuco, Brazil

Street Carnival Bands, called "Blocos de Rua", have also become a major part of Rio's Carnival. There are over 400 of these groups, and they are usually formed by groups of partiers, adopting their own titles which may be puns or identifiers of their neighborhood. They may travel around the city or remain in their own block of the city the entire time. These bands often compose their own music as well as perform classic and popular songs.

While Rio had the most famous of Carnival festivals, the city of Recife in Pernambuco has the biggest carnival parade in the world, Galo da Madrugada, based upon the number of participants. The name means "dawn's rooster" and it is only held in the morning. The celebration is guided by two main musical rhythms: the Frevo, which is influenced by African dances and acrobatics, and is fast and electrifying, often involving the use of an open umbrella, and the Maracatu, which actually embraces two styles, each being heavily influenced by African beats and styles. The groups dance and play music together, rather than competing like Rio. Giant dancing dolls are also a part of the parade.

Italy

The festivities often continue all day and night and draw in millions of people, even hundreds of thousands of tourists.

In Italy, the official Carnival date is Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, but is celebrated for two to three weeks before it. It is the biggest festival in Italy, and is celebrated in all parts of the country. Besides parades, there are numerous other kinds of entertainment, masquerade balls and parties. The Carnival of Venice, in particular, has been around since the 12th century. It differs greatly from the Brazilian dance contests, with masks being at the heart of it.

It is believed that the Carnival of Venice was started when the "Repubblica della Serenissima", Venice's former name, defeated Ulrico, Patriarch of Aquileia, in 1162. To celebrate, the people began a tradition of slaughtering twelve pigs and a bull in the Piazza San Marco to remember the victory. This expanded over the decades and became an official festival during the Renaissance in the 14th century.


People dressed in full costume with masks in Venice

The first documented date of using masks as part of the celebration is 1268. The reason for adopting masks is unsure, but one idea may have been to remove all social division among people. They may also have been used as a way to protect the wearer's identity when performing decadent acts. There are a number of distinctive mask styles, normally made from papier-mache and decorated with gems, fur and fabrics. On the last weekend of Carnival, a contest is held and a panel of international costume and fashion designers vote for "La Maschera più bella" ("The most beautiful mask").

France

There are two major Carnivals of France, one in the city of Nice and the other in the capital city of Paris. The Paris Carnival dates back to the 16th century or earlier and traditionally occurs after the Feast of Fools. At the heart of it is the working class, with butchers, traders and police among the multi-class participants. There are two major events of the modern Carnival of Paris. The first is the walk of masks in which a huge number of people disguise themselves and meet at a specific place and time for other to see their creativeness. The other events are the various processions for different groups, with the largest being the Promenade du Boeuf Gras ("Procession of the Fat Ox").

The Carnival of Nice dates back to 1294, and is one of the world's major carnival events, along with the ones of Brazil and Venice. It began from pagan celebrations and has grown to a huge annual twelve day party. During this time, the city is filled with parades of floats, street events and stalls selling food, gifts, lavender and brightly colored fabrics.


The King and Queen of carnival of Nice, France at Masséna place

This Carnival starts off with a huge parade containing about twenty floats that travel through the streets. Each year, the theme of the parade changes and the floats are made to match the theme. Joining the floats are around fifty giant puppets, grosses tetes ("big heads"), which are made of paper glued together and painted in flamboyant colors. These giant heads often weigh over 2 metric tons and are 8 to 12 metres high. "King Carnival" is one of these giant creations and leads the parade.

Another major part of the Carnival of Nice is the Bataille de Fleurs ("Battle of Flowers"). This originally started back in 1856 to entertain the tourists that had begun to visit the south of France. During this, a parade of floats covered in flowers travels the streets, with people on them and walking along side them tossing out various kinds of flowers to the crowds. The "battle" aspect comes from the onlookers competing to get the flowers, often being men trying to get the best flowers to present to their lovers. Around 100,000 fresh-cut flowers are used, with about 80% of them produced locally. The parade ends at Place Massena, where King Carnival is burnt on the last night. This is followed by a huge fireworks display over the Baie des Anges ("Bay of Angels").

United States & Mardi Gras

Carnival is also celebrated in different places in the United States, but there it is often called Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", which refers to the tradition of eating richer, fatty foods. Mardi Gras refers particularly to the last day, but over time it has grown to be the name for the entire festival. It came to the states as part of the French Catholic tradition when France set up colonies in the south during the 17th century.


At one of the parades, New Orleans Mardi Gras

There are Mardi Gras festivals all over the United States in many states, including California, Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin and Louisiana. Of these, the festival of Louisiana's capital, New Orleans, is the largest and best known. There, the celebrations last about two weeks, with a major parade occurring on most days. Some of these days have several large parades. The largest and most elaborate of these parades take place in the final days of the Festival, along with many events, both large and small, occurring throughout New Orleans.

The parades are organized by Carnival krewes. Krewe float riders toss items, known collectively as throws, to the crowds. Throws are normally strings of colourful beds, wooden coins, and small toys. In order to get attention and get more throws, people often expose certain body parts. This activity, known as flashing, is discouraged by the police, and doing so can get a person arrested or ticketed.

More Bizarre?

Carnival is celebrated in some form in over 50 countries. These include most of the European countries, Cape Verde Islands and Seychelles in Africa, Indonesia, India, Israel and Japan in Asia, and most of the countries of North and South America. It would be impossible to examine even a fraction of them in the space of this article. Most of these involve people dressing up and participating in various parades and processions. There are a few more bizarre versions of the celebration that are not as well known.


Gilles wearing their masks in Binche, Belgium

The Carnival of Oruro, Bolivia, is over 2000 year old and mixes native rituals with the Catholic event. Oruro was once a major mining town, so part of the celebration is a religious ceremony in honor of the Virgin of the Mineshaft. Another part is the Diablada, or "dance of the devils", in which people dress up as demons and dance in the streets along with some dressed as angels, representing good conquering evil and the seven deadly sins.

In Binche, Belgium, they have one of the oldest street carnivals in Europe. The main figures in this Carnival are called Gilles. Hundreds of men wear costumes with the colors of the Belgium flag and are covered in strange crests, tassels and bells. The Gilles wear wooden clogs on their feet and strange masks on their faces which have curled moustaches and large green glasses. The costumes are also stuffed with straw to give the men a much bulkier look. The Gilles dance down the streets with baskets full of blood oranges, which they hurl at onlookers. No one is exactly sure of the meaning of the Gilles. The shoes might be used to stomp away the winter and the masks to represent equality among everyone, similar to the masks of Venice. The oranges are considered to be a gift from the Gilles, but sometimes they have caused property damage.

Learn More

You probably have some kind of Carnival festivals in your country, even if you don't know about them already. Since we can't explore all the various forms of this celebration, try to learn about them and compare them to what you have read here, or research other versions in different countries. Have fun!

Celebrations - Carnival
Writer: Sonja Krüger
Images:
Team at Carnaval.com Studios: Samba Dancer; Samaba dancers dressed in colourful costumes at night
Antônio Cruz/ABr: Giant heads at Carnaval do Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil
Scarantino: Masks at Carnival of Venice
Jesmar: The King and Queen of carnival of Nice
acedout: New Orleans Mardi Gras
Marie-Claire: Binche, Gilles wearing their masks.
Petey: Carnaval of Nantes (title); Carnival scene painting
Sources:
• "Carnival" About.com <http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/Carnival.htm>
• "Brazilian Carnival" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Carnival>
• "Carnival Origins" Michael La Rose <http://www.carnivalineducation.com/node/29>
• "The Top 15 Carnivals Around The World" Krew Central <https://sites.google.com/site/krewecentral/carnival-celebrations/the-top-15-carnivals-around-the-world>
• "Carnival of Venice" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_Venice>
• "Venice Carnival" Study English Today <http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/venice-carnival.html>
• "Paris Carnival" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Carnival>
• "Mardi Gras" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras>
• "New Orleans Mardi Gras" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_Mardi_Gras>
• "Mardi Gras in the United States" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_in_the_United_States>
• "Carnival" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival>
• "Nice Carnival" About.com <http://gofrance.about.com/od/provence/a/Nice-Carnival.htm>
• "Carnival of Binche" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_Binche>

All images are Copyright - CC BY-SA (Creative Commons Share Alike) by their respective owners, except for Petey, which is Public Domain (PD) or unless otherwise noted.

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