Carnival

Carnival is a festive season that takes place before the Christian season of Lent, featuring public celebrations, elaborate costumes, masquerade, music, dance, feasting, and parades. The term Carnival derives from Italian carnevale or Latin carnem vale, reflecting the traditional farewell to meat observed during Lent, and it marks the transition from ordinary time to a period of fasting and reflection in some communities.

Origins of Carnival lie in medieval Europe within Catholic communities, where pre-Lent revelry and indulgence developed into organized celebrations. Elements of earlier pagan festivals and Roman rites influenced some practices, and over time the celebrations spread globally through trade, colonization, and migration, taking on local customs and themes in diverse cultures.

Common features across Carnivals include street parades, masquerade processions, costume balls, music and dance, and public feasting. Masks and fantastical attire are often central, allowing participants to assume alternate identities. In many places the festivities culminate on Shrove Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras, the day before Lent begins, while others extend the celebrations over several days or weeks.

Notable Carnivals around the world include the Rio de Janeiro Carnival in Brazil, known for its samba parades and elaborate floats; the Venice Carnival in Italy, famed for its ornate masks; Mardi Gras in New Orleans, United States, with organized krewes and parades; Notting Hill Carnival in London, which highlights Caribbean culture; and Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, renowned for mas bands, calypso, and soca music.

Today Carnival varies by locale, serving as a cultural heritage event, a tourist draw, and a form of communal expression that can be either secular or religious in emphasis.