Since I've noticed recently that Carnival is something that's celebrated in places I didn't know about, I thought to myself... why not make a thread for all AG users to talk about it, share experiences, and discuss the background of the festival that's being celebrated all over the world?!
A small history background for the people that don't know the festival:
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carnival (Carnaval, ÎαÏναβάλι (Carnavali), Carnevale, Carnestoltes, Carnaval, Karneval, Carnaval and KarnawaÅ in Portuguese, Greek, Italian, Catalan, French, Dutch, German, Spanish and Polish languages) is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnival typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, masque and public street party. People often dress up or masquerade during the celebrations, which mark an overturning of daily life.
Carnival is a festival traditionally held in Roman Catholic and, to a lesser extent, Eastern Orthodox societies. Protestant areas usually do not have carnival celebrations or have modified traditions, such as the Danish Carnival or other Shrove Tuesday events. The Brazilian Carnaval is one of the best-known celebrations today, but many cities and regions worldwide celebrate with large, popular, and days-long events. These include the Carnevale of Venice and the Carnevale of Viareggio, Italy, the German Rhineland carnivals, centering on the Cologne carnival; the carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands; in Andalusia(Spain)Carnival of Cádiz ; the carnival of Cape Verde; of Torres Vedras, Portugal; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Rijeka, Croatia; Barranquilla, Colombia; Dominican Republic; Haiti; Jamaica; the Carnaval and the Llamadas in Montevideo, Uruguay and Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. In the United States, the famous Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, date back to French and Spanish colonial times.
I've been in Carnival lots. The Parades in Dominican are always fun, we have fireworks going off, And flame breathers( people who put rum in their mouths, spit it out, and it ingites into a huge flame)
It's very fun. Oh and you can't forget the Free fish. plus the Music, the bands, and we also have dancer's in colourful dresses and suits, and also have the baseball teams, and the soccer teams in the parades. Plsu the MIlitary has cool parade sections, where they load their tanks with shelsl filled with fireworks, when they shoot, it ignitesi n the air, and its awesome. I love Carnival.
I guess people notice the differences in celebrations all over the world, but I have to agree with you balerion...
Allthough it's the same basic festival, the 'Mardi Gras' version never made any sense to me! Ok, granted the festival is a way for people to 'bend and break' the rules, but why do that by having women flash their 'tops' at people on balconies to get strands of beads? Somehow the meaning of the festival got misinterpreted (maybe on purpose) to have men shamelessly watch topless women...
It's a huge contradiction to how we celebrate it in the Netherlands and it just doesn't have any sane argument what so ever to back it up... o_O
Well, where I live now there is a tradition of a week of partying and having a carnival. Of course this tradition also states it has to be while I am writing assignments for my exams (it feels that way). I am not amused. It is said to be the biggest in Northern Europe, so obviously there are a lot of people meeting up dressed like God knows what, drinking a lot and generally making a mess of the city and themselves.
I'm off to a Venetian Masquerade party tonight whcih should be pretty fun I don't know much of the history and i'm only off in a Guy Fawkes mask (doesn't really count) but I love it lol.
