Well we made it through five days of Carnival and took several days to recover! Last summer we were fortunate to see Carnival in Grenada which was very definitely Caribbean and this was very definitely French!

Although Carnival happens all over the island we decided to see the main celebration held in the capital Fort de France. Before it had started there were a dozens of new market stalls sprung up selling this years carnival fashion - fishnet tights and gloves, luminous leg warmers, feather boas and chiffon skirts (mainly in black or red) adorned with hundreds of coins and sequins.

We were to find that this costume was de rigueur for all genders!

A tented village was set up in the corner of the park, by the main parade road, to be filled with food vendors. Crepes, frites, Paninis, bokits and baguettes all available to help you through the day. We enjoyed several evenings there, sitting at the table watching the crowds.  

By lunchtime on Saturday most shops and businesses had closed and not to open again until Thursday.

 

Samedi Gras – Sortie des Reines.

Saturday afternoon was the first day of Carnival and assorted Carnival Queens and Princesses toured the streets on decorated trucks. The crowd was big and we were beginning to see the difference between Carnival in Grenada and France.

In France you watch the people as much as the parade.

Nearly everyone dressed up for carnival. For anyone under thirty, male and female, the costume was as follows: very short and figure hugging hotpants, fishnet tights (usually red or black, sometimes both) several pairs of leg warmers pushed down to ankle level. The most we saw was six on each leg and temperature was still in the mid 80's! Sometimes the men would forget the shorts and just wear tights and thongs! Upper bodies could be t-shirts, bikini tops or naked as long lots of glitter was involved. Hair was often dyed or plaited with multi coloured braid.  

An alternate group ditched the glitter and went for the camouflaged look but still managed to wear very little! Some young girls and older women were in the traditional Martinique costume which is lovely. Brightly coloured Madras cotton with lots of white broderie Anglaise and a delightful Madras head dress.

 

Saturday's parade seemed to be a bit of a practice for the following days. They went round twice and then disbanded. At this stage the food village was the place to be to promenade and be seen. We soon realised that Carnival was a big excuse for role reversal with dozens of men posing in tights and thongs.

One group, we nicknamed ‘The Boys' did a dusk parade and photo shoot everyday in themed costumes!

Dimanche Gras

Carnival got into full swing on Sunday starting at 4.30 a.m. with the Pyjama Parade.

Whilst we could hear it from the anchorage we decided to give it a miss and wait for the afternoons events. This started on the waterfront with Mayepiepoutet!

Visually brilliant but to us completely incomprehensible!

A lot of the explanations were in Creole and don't translate well. One sign appeared to say ‘Magpies give up violence!' which we couldn't believe was right!   We asked several people who couldn't really explain it to us but to give you an idea!

First there was an amazing mechanical dog being ridden by a couple of guys in Egyptian style costumes. The dog – Chien en fer – was about 15 feet to the top of his head, moved around a bit and occasionally had red glowing eyes. We later found out he was representative of a common island dog with little hair.  

Musical accompaniment was provided by more Egyptians blowing conch shells and banging drums. A tall character with waving arms and a shaggy costume moved around in front of the dog chanting. So far so good.

What really threw us were the ‘soldiers' in camouflage and red pixie hats some of whom were on motor bikes disguised as dinosaurs!

Following this was the ‘Vide Multicolores ' the parade where anything went.

Most groups walked rather than be on trucks and most were accompanied by their own band, usually with lots of drummers. Traditional costumes included 'Mariann lapofig' dressed in banana leaves, devils and 'Karoline' who appears to be a very dubious, shady character who carries her henpecked man on her back!

We also saw 'Vaval' the King of Carnival, a big troll who eventually gets incinerated! After a second evening watching the crowd we retired to prepare for day three.

Lundi Gras – Mariages Burlesques

Today was less of a parade and more of a walk around town attending wedding ceremonies.

According to the official programme everyone is invited including drag queens, transvestites and ‘les malpropres '. The streets were full of mock wedding parties, always with a male bride and female bridegroom.

Following them were the bridesmaids and wedding guests and often the cake, champagne and presents. Some guests were not attached to a particular party and would swan around town in their fancy frocks and furs.

Very bizarre!

      Mardi Gras – Vide en rouge

Today's event was the turn of the devils and we were advised to dress in red. Just as well as if we hadn't we would have stuck out like a sore thumb. It was amazing to see thousands of people in red.

The fishnets and leg warmers were all red today and there were as many devils in the crowd as there were parading.

Some took their role very seriously and one little devil, aged about five, would periodically poke people with his trident! The costumes today were some of the most striking and much more typical of a Caribbean Carnival.

Again we spent the evening watching the crowd and not to disappoint ‘The Boys' came out dressed in red!

Mercredi des Cendres  

After yesterdays colour today - black & white day – was a bit of an anti-climax.

We noticed that a lot of the paraders were the same but in new monochrome costumes which was quite impressive. The traditional characters today were the ‘ medecin lopital ' people dressed rather ghoulishly in doctors whites and moko zombies who seemed to be covered in a thick black oil. It was also the day to get covered in white powder!

The crowd didn't let us down with everyone in black and white. The only ones who stood out were the tourists and cruisers who hadn't done their research. Carnival ended with the burning of Vaval on the seafront.

By Thursday everything was back to normal and it was as though Carnival had never been. The food village had been dismantled, the market traders gone and all the shelves cleared of leg warmers and fishnet stockings. The only hint was a large number of rather bleary eyed citizens in the streets.

Warm regards

Sharon & Andrew