A Brief Look at the Evolution of Carnival

To wrap up our coverage of Mas Camp 2019, we take a brief look at the evolution of carnival. Here is Brent Lopez.

Brent Lopez, Reporitng

The festive event has become central to our September Celebrations. Carnival, known to the North Americans as Mardi Gras, has a complicated birthright in the Caribbean.  It has ties to colonialism, religious conversions, but ultimately it is an expression of freedom and celebration.

The festival originated with the Italian Catholics as a part of their pre-Lenten ritual as the word “carnival” is perceived to mean “farewell to flesh” since they abstained from eating red meat until Easter.  Hence, the rationale behind the erotically revealing attire and tantalizing moves. Carnival originally took place on “Fat Tuesday”, the day before Ash Wednesday, but as the years went by, most Caribbean countries moved away from that tradition.

In Belize, carnival is guided by our African ancestry with costumes, masks, feathers, headdresses and music. As the years progressed, carnival has seen a return to sensual and tantalizing moves to express creativity, originality, imagination, culture and folklore. For some revelers, it has become a platform to positively demonstrate against the ills of our society.

Our coverage of the road march begins at one p.m. on Saturday with the highlight of Jouvert.