carnival - Haiti Observer Blog

The Official List of the committee members for the 2017 Haiti Carnival has been selected and made official.
The National Carnival 2017 will take place in Les Cayes on the 26th, 27th and 28th of February. The theme: "N'ap Danse, N'ap Konstwi"

The list of the members is as folllows:

1) Claudel Dumas, President ;

2) Serge Chery, Vice-president ;

3) Carel Pedre, Spokesperson ;

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During the commemoration of the 2010 earthquake, President Michel Martelly took the opportunity to announce what's to come after his presidency. The president said that he doesn't believe in killing as others before him have done" We will not eliminate you, we will not make you disappear, we will not kill you, we will not kill your children, they will not find you in a pile of garbage". However the President said that he reserves the right to use the same microphone as Press freedom should apply to him as well. According to the president, we will see who is the toughest

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Every year, on the Labor Day, the New York City celebrates West Indian-American Day with a Carnival. The West Indian community celebrates their national tradition and culture on the first Monday of September; this year it was on September 7th. The celebration aims to promote, develop and celebrate Caribbean culture, arts, history and traditions with a weeklong display of festivities and a grand finale Carnival parade. On the Labor Day, many folklore and music shows that are significant to the Caribbean culture are displayed through the colorful parade in a joyful mood. Over a million people gather on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn for the event, which celebrates Caribbean culture with food and music.

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"Mardi Gras" or "Fat Tuesday" (in French), has its origins in medieval Europe that dates back thousands of years to pagan celebrations of spring and fertility, including the raucous Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Lupercalia.

The festival marks the last day before Catholics begin Lent on Ash Wednesday. It is a holiday which is celebrated around the world by people of various beliefs because it focuses on having a good time and enjoying food and drink. It has many international names, such as Martes de Carnaval in Mexico, Martedi Grasso in Italy, Fastan in Sweden, J'Ouvert in Trinidad, and Karneval in Germany. The Mardi Gras has five popular traditions. Here their meanings are explained. (1) Wearing masks (it hides class constraints); (2) The Flambeaux Tradition (in the beginning shredded rope soaked in pitch were carried by the slaves so that the nighttime revelers could enjoy festivities); (3) Throwing Of Beads (color chosen by the king was thrown to the person who exhibited the meaning of the color like justice, power or faith); (4) Rex, The King of Carnival (a prominent person is chosen) and (5) Handing Out Zulu Coconuts (a favorite Mardi Gras throw, considered priceless).

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Mardi Gras' or 'Fat Tuesday' is a Christian holiday and a popular cultural festival which is celebrated on the day before the religious season of Lent that begins on Ash Wednesday. It also has links to the Christmas season through the period known as Carnival. The festival is celebrated in many countries dominated by the Roman Catholic populations. Parades are a major part of celebrating Mardi Gras since the day when the 'krewes' began parading through New Orleans over 100 years ago. The crude early floats during the mid 1800's were often accompanied by young slaves, and free men of color (known as flambeaux carriers) who carried torches to light the way for floats and bands during Mardi Gras night parades. 'Krewes' are the groups with hereditary membership whose members organize and participate as costumed paraders in the annual Mardi Gras carnival. Each Mardi Gras Parade Krewe has a unique history and theme. This most famous public festivity draws thousands of tourists and revelers every year. Popular practices on Mardi Gras include costumes and wearing masks, dancing, overturning social conventions, sports competitions, parades, debauchery, etc. The first official Mardi Gras parade celebrated in the U.S was at Mobile, Alabama in 1703 under the French rule. The true origins of Mardi Gras can be traced all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome, and along with Christianity, Mardi Gras spread from Rome to other countries such as Brazil, New Orleans, Venice, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, and Canada.

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Following a major accident on the second day of Kanaval in Port-au-Prince, on February 17, 2015, 17 people died and at least 60 were injured of stampede in an ensuing panic by the bystanders. According to the news agency report, when float of the Barikad Crew was passing through on Rue Capois near the Champ de Mars, the star rappers of the Barikad group, known as Phantom, was reported to be the one who first received the electric charge.

He was standing on the float and removed a high tension power line with a pole so that their float can pass under it. Some of the victims were immediately electrocuted in a flash of sparks. Most of those killed appeared to have been trampled to death as the crowd surged away from the Carnival float. However, Phantom was in stable condition; the physicians were surprised that the singer didn't suffer a heart attack or die after coming in contact with the power line.

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The Carnival celebration in Haiti is a time of art, song, dance, and costume that has many observable features and symbolic meanings. Haiti takes to the streets with striking costumes and dance during the parades. It is a time for self-expression and creativity which helps to unite people of the world with the same beliefs. Port-au-Prince's annual carnival is one of the largest Mardi Gras carnivals in the Caribbean and North America. It is celebrated with music, bands and parades with colorful floats on the trucks. Carnival goers dance, sing, embrace, eat and drink all day and night until the sun came back out again-- it is "Plezi Gaye" (Fun All Over). A delight to watch the beautiful firework demonstrations, gorgeous costumes, and colorful schemas, all the while the people chanting the lyrics to inspiring Kompa, Creole Rap, and Root Music .

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Haitians love their national carnival season. This year, through the efforts of various bodies and individual, the festivities that took place in Gonaives from March 2 to March 4 has left the nation on a post-celebration high. The country's president has rightly set about publicizing thanks to all those concerned in the smooth procession of the 2014 carnival.

The success of the three-day affair, where order and civility are concerned, was due in part to the effort of the National Police of Haiti (PNH), the health care workers and facilities on watch, and the public at large. While there were some casualties, as can be expected with any mass event like a carnival (472 wounded and nearly 50 arrested), there were only two reported deaths, one from a traffic accident and the other from over-imbibing.

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Haiti celebrates many of the same holidays Americans do, including Fourth of July, Flag Day, All Souls Day, Christopher Columbus, Easter, and Christmas.

The first holiday in Haiti is New Years Day, which lasts an entire week. The largest event of the year, Haitians prepare a feast of ham, turkey stew, black rice, and plantains. Rhum Barbancourt is also consumed. The holiday celebrates Haiti as the first black-led Republic.

Carnival, in early February, mimics Louisiana's Mardi Gras. Both atonement for sins and raucous partying before Lent begins, it is a three-day orgy of dancing, drinking, and parades.

Easter week, or Rara, has activities including politically-motivated performances, parades, and a traditional menu of fish, yams, beans, and rice.

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As it was the case with Prosper Avril, former president Jean Claude Duvalier was invited to celebrate the 2010th anniversary of our independence in the historic and revolutionary city of Gonaives. In term of revolution, the former Haitian dictator would be the first to tell you based on his experience with this Haitian city. His exile to France was the result of an ongoing protest that originated in Gonaives in 1986, with the assassination of three High School students.

Since his return from exile, it seems that former President Jean Claude Duvalier has taken it upon himself to built bridges between the city of Gonaives and himself. Beside this 2010th anniversary of our independence in which he was invited to participate in, Mr. Duvalier was invited in Gonaives to sponsor a promotion of Jurists at the Faculty of Law of Gonaives which had raised a great outcry. Many people feel at the time it was inappropriate as the former dictator did not have any respect for the law or justice during his reign.

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