Carnival Roundup 2008

In countries across the world, hoards of people took to the streets to celebrate Carnival 2008, which wrapped up on February 6 with the crowning of this year’s unexpected winners.

Carnival, a pubic street party that includes parades, masquerades, and circus-like entertainment elements, is expressed differently in different countries, but activities typically begin on Septuagesima (the third Sunday before Ash Wednesday) and end on Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday). Because of Carnival’s historical ties to the Roman Catholic Church (although the origins of Carnival may pre-date Christianity altogether), the festivities are still loosely organized around Lent. Traditionally during the forty days of Lent, there are no parties or celebrations and many foods, such as meat, are forbidden, commemorating the time Jesus spent in the desert resisting Satan’s temptation. Carnival, then, is a last celebration before fasting.

The world’s largest and most famous celebration is held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Samba schools practice year-round for Carnival. Parading in the Sambadrome, a stadium-size area in downtown Rio de Janeiro built specifically for Carnival, runs for four consecutive nights and is where the winning samba school is announced.

Brazilian judges declared the Samba group Beija Flor-which means “Hummingbird” in Portuguese-champion of Brazil's 2008 Carnival for the fifth time in six years. Their extravagant float paid homage to legends of the Amazon forest, with jungle-like displays and winged dancers. Each Samba group was evaluated by forty judges in ten categories; Beija Flor received a near-perfect score of 399.3 out of a possible 400.

Watch Beija-Flor on Youtube.

Moving North, Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival also climaxed on Fat Tuesday. Parades filled the streets as elaborately adorned performers rallied the crowds. Bands wore colorful theme-based costumes. In short, all the major competitions of the Carnival were showcased, and winners were chosen.

Trinidad and Tobago named multiple winners in various categories, such as the Stick-Fighting Champion, the International Soca Monarch, and the National Calypso Queen. However, two of the most important victories were the crowning of the National Calypso Monarch and the Road March.

Faye-Ann Lyons- Alvarez took the 2008 Road March title with the song "Get On." This was her second time winning the title, the first being back in 2003 with her song, "Display."

Watch Lyons-Alvarez’s winning song on Youtube.

Michael Osouna, a.k.a. “Sugar Aloes,” was crowned 2008’s National Calypso. Osouna, who hails from Santa Cruz, Trinidad, had also won the same title once earlier, in 2002. Osouna’s first single, which won him 2002’s victory, was “Jubilation Time,” a tribute to the People’s National Movement’s return to political power in Trinidad and Tobago.

Watch Osouna perform on Youtube.

Finally, we travel to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti to see their Carnival results. For Haitians, Carnival is the most anticipated cultural event of the year. Their Carnival draws from elements of the African and French customs, including music, masquerades and dancing.

Haitian judges assessed each group by a set of pre-established criteria, comparable to other countries criteria, which comprise of but are not limited to floats, costumes, dance, and song lyrics. Also similarly to other country’s victors, many performers were championed in different categories.

For 2008, Djakout Mizik won the Champion's title. His parade and music was dedicated to the empowerment of the Haitian people. Mizik has been playing and performing music for years, but recently gained international press attention, largely due his guest appearance with American hiphop artist Wyclef John and Haitian rapper Black Alex on MTV.

Watch Mizik on Youtube.

Contributed by: Sarah Friend

First published: afropop.org