Carnival (redirected from Martinique and Guadeloupe)

carnival, communal celebration, especially the religious celebration in Catholic countries that takes place just before Lent. Since early times carnivals have been accompanied by parades, masquerades, pageants, and other forms of revelry that had their origins in pre-Christian pagan rites, particularly fertility rites that were connected with the coming of spring and the rebirth of vegetation. One of the first recorded instances of an annual spring festival is the festival of Osiris in Egypt; it commemorated the renewal of life brought about by the yearly flooding of the Nile. In Athens, during the 6th cent. B.C., a yearly celebration in honor of the god Dionysus was the first recorded instance of the use of a float. It was during the Roman Empire that carnivals reached an unparalleled peak of civil disorder and licentiousness. The major Roman carnivals were the Bacchanalia, the Saturnalia, and the Lupercalia. In Europe the tradition of spring fertility celebrations persisted well into Christian times, where carnivals reached their peak during the 14th and 15th cent. Because carnivals are deeply rooted in pagan superstitions and the folklore of Europe, the Roman Catholic Church was unable to stamp them out and finally accepted many of them as part of church activity. The immediate consequence of church influence may be seen in the medieval Feast of Fools, which included a mock Mass and a blasphemous impersonation of church officials. Eventually, however, the power of the church made itself felt, and the carnival was stripped of its most offending elements. The church succeeded in dominating the activities of the carnivals, and eventually they became directly related to the coming of Lent. The major celebrations are generally on Shrove Tuesday (see Mardi Gras); however, in Germany the carnival season, or Fasching, begins on the Epiphany (Jan. 6) in Bavaria and on Nov. 11 in the Rhineland. In recent times, the term carnival has also been loosely applied to include local festivals, traveling circuses, bazaars, and other celebrations of a joyous nature, regardless of their purpose or their season.

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carnival

Final celebration before the fasting and austerity of Lent in some Roman Catholic regions. The most famous and probably most exuberant carnival is that of Rio de Janeiro, which is celebrated with masked balls, costumes, and parades; the best-known U.S. celebration is Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The first day of carnival season varies with local traditions, but carnival usually ends on Shrove Tuesday, the day before the start of Lent.

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Carnival

Various dates, from Epiphany to Ash Wednesday Eve

The period known as Carnival—probably from the Latin caro or carne levara, meaning "to take away meat" and "a farewell to flesh"—begins anytime after Epiphany and usually comes to a climax during the last three days before Ash Wednesday, especially during Mardi Gras. It is a time of feasting and revelry in anticipation of the prohibitions of Lent.
Carnival is still observed in most of Europe and the Americas. It features masked balls, lavish costume parades, torch processions, dancing, fireworks, noisemaking, and of course feasting on all the foods that will have to be given up for Lent. Ordinarily Carnival includes only the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday ( see Fasching), but sometimes it begins on the preceding Friday or even earlier. In Brazil, Carnival is the major holiday of the year.
See also Karneval in Cologne and Shrove Tuesday

SOURCES:
BkDays-1864, vol. I, pp. 65, 236
BkFest-1937, pp. 4, 29, 38, 54, 67, 95, 102, 111, 120, 132, 146, 166, 179, 219, 241, 249, 259, 267, 289, 298, 316, 328
DictFolkMyth-1984, pp. 105, 178, 181, 192, 193, 197, 220, 370, 397, 543, 568, 629, 747, 749, 757, 759, 787, 807, 842, 844, 947, 977, 980, 1082
EncyEaster-2002, p. 51
EncyRel-1987, vol. 3, p. 98
FestWestEur-1958, pp. 6, 23, 34, 55, 56, 89, 124, 151, 163, 191, 211, 230
FolkAmerHol-1999, p. 88
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 132
GdUSFest-1984, pp. 5, 68, 133
GdWrldFest-1985, pp. 4, 24, 64, 96, 133, 147, 175
HolSymbols-2009, p. 106
IntlThFolk-1979, pp. 44, 82, 278
OxYear-1999, p. 603
RelHolCal-2004, p. 91

Celebrated in: Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, Hungary, India, Malta, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland

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Carnival (Argentina)

February-March

The celebration of Carnival in Argentina has decreased in the larger cities, but it remains the most popular celebration of the year in the more sparsely inhabited northern zone. In the province of Jujuy, men and women wearing colorful blankets perform carnivalito, a traditional round dance where couples continually vary a few simple figures while their leader waves a handkerchief or ribboned stick and calls out for changes in a high voice. Although this dance at one time was associated with an ancient harvest festival, its significance in this context has been long forgotten. In some places people dance for a few hours a day. These festivities may continue for as long as a month.
The tincunaco ceremony is an important part of the Carnival celebration in other areas of Argentina. The ceremony symbolizes the sacred ties that unite a mother and her child's godmother. It takes place under an arch made from a branch taken from a willow tree and decorated with fruit, sweets, cheese, blossoms, and lanterns. The mothers line up on one side of the arch, the godmothers on the other. They move toward one another until they meet under the arch. There they touch foreheads and pass a child made from candy from one to the other. The celebration usually draws to a close with the mock funeral of Pukllay, the spirit of Carnival. One woman, chosen to act as Pukllay's wife, cries about her husband's death. The others tap drums and sing Carnival tunes. Pukllay—usually a rag doll dressed in native costume—is laid to rest in a freshly dug grave showered with blossoms and sweets.

CONTACTS:
National Secretariat of Tourism, Tourist Information Centers
Av. Santa Fe 883
Buenos Aires, C1059ABC Argentina
54-11-4312-2232; fax: 54-11-4302-7816
www.turismo.gov.ar/eng/menu.htm

SOURCES:
FiestaTime-1965, p. 53

Celebrated in: Argentina

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Carnival (Aruba)

February-March; three days before Ash Wednesday

Preparations for the Carnival celebration on the island of Aruba begin months before the actual event. There is a calypso competition at the end of January, followed by a steel band competition to see who gets to perform in the Carnival parade in Oranjestad. Then there's a tumba contest, "tumba" being the native music of the Netherlands Antilles. The actual celebration begins three days before Ash Wednesday and ends at midnight on Mardi Gras.
The highlight is the Carnival Main Parade, which takes eight hours to wind its way through the streets of Oranjestad. It includes elaborate floats and people in colorful costumes dancing the jump-up, a dance performed to a half-march rhythm. The three-day festival comes to an end with the Old Mask Parade, followed by the traditional burning of "King Momo."

CONTACTS:
Aruba Tourism Authority
One Financial Pl., Ste. 2508
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33394
954-767-6477; fax: 954-767-0432
www.aruba.com

SOURCES:
GdWrldFest-1985, p. 4

Celebrated in: Aruba

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Carnival (Bolivia)

February-March

While Carnival celebrations were formerly held throughout Bolivia, the tendency in recent years has been for people to gather in the larger cities, such as La Paz, Sucre, Cochambamba, and Oruro, where the dancing and drinking can go on for a week ( see also Carnival of Oruro). Pepinos, masked clowns that wear striped clothing and carry cardboard rods, are found only in La Paz. They wander through the crowds talking in high-pitched voices so that no one will know who they are. Thus disguised they strike at random passersby—who often hit back—with their cardboard batons. Those who wish to dress as pepinos must apply to the police for a special license and wear it throughout the festival so that all can see it. In this way, festivalgoers can identify pepinos that cause injury to people or property.

CONTACTS:
Bolivian Embassy
3014 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
202-483-4410; fax: 202-328-3712
www.bolivia-usa.org

SOURCES:
FiestaTime-1965, p. 46

Celebrated in: Bolivia

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Carnival (Brazil)

Between January 30 and March 5; four days preceding Ash Wednesday

Carnival is the largest popular festival in Brazil, the last chance for partying before Lent. The most extravagant celebration takes place along the eight miles of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, where, since the 1930s, the parades, pageants, and costume balls go on for four days, all accompanied by the distinctive rhythm of the samba. The whole city is decorated with colored lights and streamers, and impromptu bands play on every street corner. Banks, stores, and government offices are closed until noon on Ash Wednesday.
The high point of the Carioca (as the natives of Rio are known) Carnival is the parade of the samba schools ( Escola de Samba ), which begins on Carnival Sunday and ends about midday on Monday. The samba schools are neighborhood groups, many of whom come from the humblest sections of Rio, who develop their own choreography, costumes, and theme songs. The competition among them is as fierce as the rivalry of top sports teams. A single samba school can have as many as two to three thousand participants, so the scale of the parade can only be described as massive. People spend months learning special dances for the parade, and must often raise huge sums of money to pay for their costumes, which range from a few strategically placed strings of beads to elaborate spangled and feathered headdresses. Each samba school dances the length of the Sambadrome, a one-of-a-kind samba stadium designed by Oscar Niemeyer and built in 1984 to allow 85,000 spectators to watch the samba schools dance by. Viewing the parade from the Sambadrome is usually an all-night affair.
In recent years, more and more of Carnival has moved into clubs, the Club Monte Libano being one of the most famous. The Marilyn Monroe look-alike contest held by transvestites on Sugarloaf Mountain is among the most unusual events.

CONTACTS:
Rio de Janeiro Tourism Authority
Praca Pio X, 119 - 9? andar - Centro
Rio de Janeiro-RJ-, Cep 20040-020 Brasil
55-21-2271-7000; fax: 55-21-531-1872

SOURCES:
BkHolWrld-1986, Feb 25
DictFolkMyth-1984, p. 193
EncyEaster-2002, p. 38
EncyRel-1987, vol. 3, p. 102
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 136
GdWrldFest-1985, p. 24

Celebrated in: Brazil

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Carnival (Colombia)

February-March; Friday through Tuesday before Ash Wednesday

From the Friday preceding Ash Wednesday until Shrove Tuesday, the Colombian city of Barranquilla celebrates Carnival. There are costume balls, folklore shows, water festivals, and, on the night before Ash Wednesday, the ceremonial burial of "JosÉ Carnaval," the spirit who rules over the festivities. Each barrio, or neighborhood, chooses its own beauty queen and holds informal parties, while the city's wealthier inhabitants hold pageants and formal balls, competing to see who can come up with the most ornate costume. Ron blanco, the local white rum, is the favored drink, and residents dance in the streets to African and Indian rhythms. The Battle of Flowers on the opening day of the festival involves many elaborate floats decorated with the country's exotic flora.

CONTACTS:
Colombian Embassy
2118 Leroy Pl. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
202-387-8338; fax: 202-232-8643
www.colombiaemb.org

SOURCES:
GdWrldFest-1985, p. 64

Celebrated in: Colombia

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Carnival (Cuba)

Late July to early August

The celebration of Carnival in Havana, Cuba, dates back to the earliest years of the republic, when it featured comparsas, or groups of Afro-Cuban dancers, and parades of local officials and other distinguished people in carriages or on horseback. The first floats, many of them imported from New Orleans, appeared in 1908, but from then on, the people of Havana began to design and construct floats of their own and to establish what soon became one of the best-known Carnival celebrations in all of the Americas.
The comparsas remain the highlight of Carnival. About 18 of these dance groups, which come from all parts of the island, entertain Carnival goers with well-orchestrated spectacles of song, dance, and gorgeous costume. Some of the comparsas—composed of ordinary people from all walks of life—have been in existence for nearly 100 years. Each brings its own band and pauses at several points along the parade route to present its choreographic spectacle. This usually includes a conga line, whose characteristic step may represent an attempt to mimic the foot-dragging gait of slaves in chains.
Under the dictatorship of Fidel Castro, Carnival has become somewhat more restrained. Floats and dramatic spectacles are often utilitized for propaganda purposes and to ridicule the country's political enemies. In recent years Carnival has been held over two or more weeks in late July and early August and associated with National Day on July 26 ( see Cuba Liberation Day).

SOURCES:
FiestaTime-1965, p. 38

Celebrated in: Cuba

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Carnival (Goa, India)

February-March; Saturday through Tuesday before Ash Wednesday

In Goa, a region on the southwest coast of India, Carnival is known as Intruz because it leads into the period of Lent. Social conventions are relaxed, and people wearing masks toss cocotes and cartuchos (small paper packets containing flour and sawdust) at one another, or squirt each other with syringes of perfumed colored water—much like what goes on during the Hindu festival of Holi. In Panaji, the capital of Goa, there is a huge parade in honor of King Momo, the Lord of the Revels, on Shrove Tuesday. There are floats with dancers and bands playing swing music, stilt-walkers dressed up as Walt Disney characters, tableaux, and grotesque figures in African masks. The entire procession can take as long as four hours to pass, ending at the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Afterward, there is dancing in the town squares, public halls, and on the beaches, with older people doing the tango and waltz while the young people dance to popular music. The festivities end at dawn on Ash Wednesday, when most attendees head for church services.

CONTACTS:
Goa Tourism Development Corporation Ltd.
Trionara Apts, Dr. Alvares Costa Rd.
Panaji, Goa 403 001 India
91-832-2424001; fax: 91-832-2423926
www.goa-tourism.com

SOURCES:
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 140

Celebrated in: India

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Carnival (Haiti)

February-March; three days preceding Ash Wednesday

Although the official Carnival holiday in Haiti takes place during the last three days before Ash Wednesday, the celebration actually begins on the first Sunday after Epiphany, when bandes or groups of costumed dancers begin to appear in the streets of the cities and suburbs. They often carry a sort of maypole, plant it in someone's yard, and then braid a simple pattern with the colored streamers as they dance to the rhythm of drums. The dancers often travel with marchandes who sell rum, candy, and rolls from the trays they carry on their heads. After the neighbors have gifted the dancers with a few coins, the whole entourage packs up and moves on to the next location.
The last three days before Ash Wednesday are particularly boisterous and exciting in Port-au-Prince, the capital. Almost everyone appears in costume, blowing noisemakers or playing musical instruments. Floats are pulled through the streets, decorated with bird feathers, palm fronds, flowers, and seashells as well as more mundane materials such as bottle caps, ribbons, and fabric. Because the merrymakers wear masks, they feel free to make fun of political leaders and local institutions. Although the Port-au-Prince celebration is the largest in Haiti, even wilder ones are held in Jacmel, Cap Haitien, Cayes, and JÉrÉmie.
See also Carnival Lamayote; Rara

CONTACTS:
Haitian Embassy
2311 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
202-332-4090; fax: 202-745-7215
www.haiti.org

SOURCES:
BkHolWrld-1986, Feb 9
FestWrld: Haiti-1999, p. 8
FiestaTime-1965, p. 40

Celebrated in: Haiti

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Carnival (Hungary) (Farsang)

January 6 to Ash Wednesday (February-March)

This is the time of year when most weddings are celebrated in Hungary, and when dances, parties, and festivities are held. In some parts of the country, villagers perform the symbolic burying of King Marrow Bone, who represents life's indulgences. Prince Cibere, whose name recalls the sour bran soup served throughout Lent, begins his 40-day reign on Ash Wednesday.
In southern Hungary, masks known as busó that are passed down from one generation to the next are worn during Mardi Gras. They are made out of carved wood painted with ox blood, with animal skins covering the top and ram's horns emerging from either side. Although at one time only adult married men could wear these masks, young unmarried men now wear them, shaking huge wooden rattles, shooting off cannons, and teasing women with long sticks topped by sheepskin gourds. In Slovenia, these masks have dangling red tongues, and the men wearing them run around in groups carrying clubs covered at one end with the skins of hedgehogs. The Busó parade in Mohács is said to be the biggest carnival event in Hungary.

CONTACTS:
Hungarian National Tourist Office
350 Fifth Ave., Ste. 7107
New York, NY 10118
212-695-1221; fax: 212-695-0809
www.gotohungary.com

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 166
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 140

Celebrated in: Hungary

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Carnival (Malta)

February-March; before Ash Wednesday

Carnival in Malta includes five days of pre-Lenten festivities, a custom since the 1500s. There are some festivities in the villages, but the main activities are in the capital city of Valletta. Here the traditional events include a parade with floats, brass bands, and participants wearing grotesque masks, as well as open-air folk-dancing competitions. A King Carnival reigns over the festival.

CONTACTS:
Malta National Tourist Office
65 Broadway, Ste. 823
New York, NY 10006
212-430-3799; fax: 425-795-3425
www.visitmalta.com

SOURCES:
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 142

Celebrated in: Malta

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Carnival (Martinique and Guadeloupe)

January-March, until Ash Wednesday night

Carnival celebrations on the French Caribbean island of Martinique and its sister island of Guadeloupe begin the Sunday after New Year's Day with weekend parties and dances in the larger cities and towns. But they reach a climax during the last few days before Lent. On the Sunday before Lent, there are parades with marchers in exotic costumes dancing to the beat of the beguine, a Congolese ritual dance. Stores and offices are closed on Monday, an official holiday that is spent singing and dancing, with masked balls that go on far into the night. Shrove Tuesday is a day for children to dress up in red-devil costumes and carry homemade tridents as they parade through the streets.
The celebration continues right through Ash Wednesday, when thousands of masked, costumed she-devils (many of whom are men in drag) have a parade of their own. Everyone wears black and white, and dark-skinned faces are smeared with ash. Effigies of King Vaval and his alter ego, Bois-Bois, tower over the procession. That night the effigies are burned, and Vaval's coffin is lowered into the ground.

CONTACTS:
Martinique Promotion Bureau
444 Madison Ave., 16th Fl.
New York, NY 10022
800-391-4909 or 212-838-7800; fax: 212-838-7855
www.martinique.org

SOURCES:
GdWrldFest-1985, p. 133

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Carnival (Mexico)

February-March

Carnival celebrations in Mexico vary from one town or region to the next, but almost all involve folk and ritual dances. In Tepeyanco and Papalotla, Tlaxcala State, paragueros ("umbrella men") perform exaggerated polkas and mazurkas during Carnival, wearing headdresses shaped like an umbrella. In Santa Ana Chiautempan and Contla, also in Tlaxcala State, los catrines —men dressed as women, or "dandies"—carry umbrellas as they mock high-society dances. Other dances performed during Carnival include the moros, diablos, and muertos taken over from the Spanish, as well as the arcos and pastoras, which are danced with flowered arches. In Morelos, the Carnival dancers are known as chinelos. Although they were formerly disguised as black Africans, nowadays they wear long embroidered satin gowns, hats topped with ostrich plumes, and masks with horn-shaped black beards.
Carnival in Mexico is known for drama as well as dance. In Zaachila, Oaxaca State, there is a mock battle between priests and devils. In Huejotzingo, Puebla State, an elaborate drama staged over a period of three or four days dramatizes the exploits of the bandit Agustin Lorenzo and the woman with whom he elopes. Carnival is celebrated in Mexico City with fireworks, parades, street dancers, and costume balls.
See also St. Martin's Carnival

CONTACTS:
Mexico Tourism Board
21 E. 63rd St., Fl. 3
New York, NY 10021
800-446-3942 or 212-821-0314; fax: 212-821-0367
www.visitmexico.com

SOURCES:
DictFolkMyth-1984, pp. 193, 197, 220, 759
IntlThFolk-1979, p. 278

Celebrated in: Mexico

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Carnival (Panama)

February-March; four days preceding Ash Wednesday

The celebration of Carnival in Panama begins on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, when the Carnival Queen and her courtiers enter Panama City. They are greeted by King Momus, the god of gaiety. The Queen leads a parade through the streets, to the accompaniment of murgas, or walking bands. Sunday is Pollera Day, when the women bring out the brilliantly colored, hand-embroidered, multilayered pollera dresses that are often handed down from one generation to the next. Monday is the day when the comparasas —precision dance troupes dressed in elaborate costumes—compete for prizes. On Tuesday, the last day of the celebration, there is a Grand Parade of floats, walking bands, dancers, and all the groups that have performed or paraded on previous days. The festivities continue throughout the night, ending at dawn with the "burial of the fish" ceremony. A mock funeral is held for a dead fish, which is then dumped into the ocean or a swimming pool.
See also Burial of the Sardine

CONTACTS:
Embassy of Panama
2862 McGill Terr. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
202-483-1407; fax: 202-483-8413
www.embassyofpanama.org

SOURCES:
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 144
GdWrldFest-1985, p. 147

Celebrated in: Panama

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Carnival (Peru)

February-March

In Peru, it is customary during Carnival for people to throw water and flour at each other. Sometimes the flour and water are thrown from a balcony on whoever happens to be walking beneath. Groups of young people often stage battles in which the boys throw the girls into fountains or bathtubs and vice versa. At Carnival dances, even well-bred young men and women squirt water at each other from special syringes sold for this purpose. Water-throwing battles are common between sailboats on lakes and in private homes. A particularly colorful celebration is held in Cajamarca.
Although Carnival is celebrated throughout Peru, the events are not as elaborate as those in neighboring Brazil.

CONTACTS:
Commission for the Promotion of Peru
Calle Uno Oeste No. 50, piso 13th
Urb. Corpac
Lima, 27 Peru
51-1-4224-3131; fax: 51-1-224-7134
www.promperu.gob.pe

SOURCES:
BkFestHolWrld-1970, p. 37

Celebrated in: Peru

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Carnival (Portugal)

February-March; three days preceding Ash Wednesday

The pre-Lenten festivities in Portugal reach a peak on the last three days before Ash Wednesday. There was a time when the Carnival celebration in Lisbon was characterized by sexual banter and horseplay, with battles involving eggs, oranges, flour, and water. But the present-day public festivities are more restrained. People decorate their cars with masses of flowers, and as the cars parade through town, they pelt their friends and neighbors with blossoms while the bystanders try to retaliate.
There are balls, parties, and dances in the cities, but in rural areas many of the more uninhibited Carnival traditions persist. The folía (literally, "madness"), a fertility dance associated with the Portuguese Carnival celebration, is named after the quick and crazy movements of the participants. Mummers and musicians, the burial in effigy of King Carnival, and traditional folk plays are also part of these rural Carnival observances.

CONTACTS:
Portuguese National Tourist Office
590 Fifth Ave., 4th Fl.
New York, NY 10036
800-767-8842 or 212-354-4403; fax: 212-764-6137
www.visitportugal.com

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 267
BkFestHolWrld-1970, p. 34
DictFolkMyth-1984, p. 397
EncyRel-1987, vol. 3, p. 101

Celebrated in: Portugal

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Carnival (Spain)

February-March; three days preceding Ash Wednesday

Carnival in Spain is an occasion for feasting and partying. Bullfights, masquerade parties, weddings, and dances are held in almost every town and village. The Prado Museum in Madrid resembles a huge street fair, with masqueraders, battles of flowers, showers of confetti, and throngs of vendors. In Catalonia, the northeastern section of Spain, Carnival is observed with the baile de cintas or baile del cordon, the Spanish ribbon or maypole dance. Another traditional Spanish dance associated with Carnival is los seises ("the six"), similar to the English Morris dance. When los seises were on the verge of being suppressed in 1685, they were preserved by papal edict for as long as the costumes lasted. With good care and numerous repairs, they have lasted to this day.
Throwing flowers and confetti at bystanders from blossom-decked cars is another Carnival tradition in Spain. Some towns even stage a battle of flowers. A particularly colorful celebration is held in Valencia, where the orange trees are in bloom at this time of year.
The city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife hosts what many consider the most Brazilesque Carnival celebration in Spain. Parades and musical and dance contests fill the days leading up to Ash Wednesday, when there are fireworks and the traditional Burial of the Sardine.

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 298
BkFestHolWrld-1970, p. 34
DictFolkMyth-1984, pp. 105, 178, 980
EncyRel-1987, vol. 3, p. 101
FestWestEur-1958, p. 191

Celebrated in: Spain

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Carnival (Switzerland)

February-March; usually the three days preceding Ash Wednesday

The Swiss actually observe Carnival, or Fasnacht, at two different times: in the Roman Catholic cantons, it is observed according to the Gregorian calendar; the Protestant cantons follow the Julian calendar and celebrate it 13 days later.
In Basel, the lights of the city go out at 4:00 a.m., when fife and drum bands perform in the market square. Then members of the Carnival guilds, wearing wild masks and costumes, parade through the streets with lanterns on long poles or perched on their heads, to the accompaniment of pipers and drummers. Frightening masks are also worn during the Carnival celebration at Flums, where they represent such notions as war, death, or disease. At Einsiedeln, "Carnival Runners" dash through the city's thoroughfares from Sunday to Ash Wednesday morning, displaying frightening masks and huge jangling bells strapped to their backs. The masks and bells found in many Swiss Carnival traditions are believed to have survived from ancient times, when people "drove out winter" with loud sounds and frightening masks.
In some parts of Switzerland it is the children who parade through the streets at Carnival, singing and carrying the national flag. The boys dress in costumes that offer clues to their fathers' professions and the girls masquerade as fairies.

CONTACTS:
Switzerland Tourism
Swiss Center
608 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10020
877-794-8037 or 212-757-5944; fax: 212-262-6116
usa.myswitzerland.com
Basel Fasnacht Online
Glockengasse 7
Basel, 4051 Switzerland
www.fasnacht.ch/?pm_1=21&mid=21

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 316
BkHolWrld-1986, Mar 4
EncyEaster-2002, p. 593
FestWestEur-1958, p. 230
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 147

Celebrated in: Switzerland

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Carnival (U.S. Virgin Islands)

Last two weeks in April

Unlike Carnival in New Orleans, Brazil, and elsewhere in the world, where it is a pre-Lenten celebration, the Virgin Islands Carnival is held after Easter, toward the end of April. It dates back to the days when Danish plantation owners gave their slaves time off to celebrate the end of the sugar cane harvest. Although the first Carnival in 1912 was a great success, it wasn't held again for four decades. Since 1952, it has been an annual event in the capital city of Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas, and nowadays the Carnival observance in St. Thomas ranks second only to the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.
Preliminary events begin a week or more beforehand, and the official Carnival period runs from Sunday until midnight the following Saturday. It begins with the opening of Calypso Tent, a week-long calypso song competition for the coveted title of "Calypso King." The celebrations include the crowning of a Carnival Queen, children's parades, a J'Ouvert morning tramp, steel bands, and dancing in the streets. The climax comes on Saturday with the grand carnival parade, featuring limbo dancers, masked figures, and mock stick-fights between Carib Indians and "Zulus." The celebration winds up with one of the most elaborate all-day parades in the Caribbean, featuring the Mocko Jumbi Dancers. These are colorful dancers on 17-foot stilts whose dances and customs derived from ancient cult traditions brought to the islands by African slaves.

CONTACTS:
US Virgin Islands Department of Tourism
P.O. Box 6400
St. Thomas, VI 00804
800-372-8784 or 340-774-8784; fax: 340-774-4390
www.usvitourism.vi

SOURCES:
AnnivHol-2000, p. 73
BkFestHolWrld-1970, p. 36
GdUSFest-1984, p. 221

Celebrated in: US Virgin Islands

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Carnival (Venice)

Begins between February 3 and March 9; ending on Shrove Tuesday night

The Carnival celebration in Venice, Italy, is more sophisticated and steeped in tradition than the flashy celebrations that take place in Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans ( see Carnival in Brazil; Mardi Gras). Costumes for the event are often drawn from the stock characters of Italian popular theater from the 16th through 18th centuries—including Harlequin, a masked clown in diamond-patterned tights; Punchinello, the hunchback; and Pierrot, the sad white-faced clown adapted by the French from the commedia dell'arte. There are also traditional costumed characters such as La Bautta (the domino), Il Dottore (the professor or doctor of law), and the Renaissance count or countess.
Italian university students, usually in more innovative costumes, pour into Venice as Ash Wednesday draws near. The rhythm of the celebration quickens, evidenced by a number of spectacular costume balls. The costume ball given at Teatro La Fenice—a benefit for charity—is known for attracting film stars, members of European nobility, and other rich and famous people.

CONTACTS:
Comune di Venezia
San Marco, Venice 04136 Italy
39-41-2748-111
www.comune.venezia.it

SOURCES:
EncyEaster-2002, p. 305
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 141

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Carnival 

a form of popular festivity with street parades and theatricalized games; primarily an open-air event.

The origins of the carnival lie in pagan rites commemorating the change in seasons and in the spring agricultural festivities and fairs. The name “carnival” originated in Italy in the late 13th century. Commedia delVarte, the most popular national form of theater in 16th-century Italy, developed with the carnival. The Russian form of carnival, called maslenitsa, was a unique national celebration held during the Shrovetide winter festivities. In the 18th century, carnival was particularly popular in Italy (Venice and Rome), Germany, and France (Nice); it is now celebrated in Latin America and Spain.

In the USSR, carnival celebrations are held on youth, student, and sports holidays.[ 11–1320–1 ]