Carnival – whose festival?

Fri July 5, 2013

Editor: The time of year is here which revellers would desire to have all year round. A time of “feting, drinking, masquerading, getting on bad” some agree. Others who would like all Vincentians to accept it or keep silent would call it “culture – expression of creativity and art”. Just a small search into the history of carnival would teach us that carnival is really about drunkenness and lewdness, when universal licentiousness prevails.{{more}} People feel ‘free’ to do what they don’t usually do throughout the year, e.g. walk in the street in decorated bras and underwears, increase alcohol intake and get involved in illicit/increased sexual activity – all in the name of having fun.

No matter how much effort is made to clean up or “nice up” carnival, it remains an ungodly festival, tied to the ancient roman celebration called Bacchanalia, which was celebrated in honour of the god Bacchus – the god of drunkenness and sexual orgies. Do you wonder why carnival is sometimes called bacchanal? Although some would like to tell us about the so-called positives of carnival, many artistes describe its real nature with fitting lyrics such as “rum, till the carnival done…carnival time is bacchanal time…a time to jump and leh go and get on bad…”. Of course, some lyrics are too smutty to repeat!

A few months ago, someone alerted me of some photos he had seen of carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Women were scantily dressed in so-called creative costumes. The private parts were only covered by a painting or some shells. Images of Brazil’s carnival leave us to conclude that it’s even “normal” to have sex in the streets during carnival time.

I understood the individual’s disgust, but knowing the origin and nature of carnival, I was hardly surprised. Though many Vincentians may be quick to say “well, we are not like Brazil,” I ask, how different are the carnival activities here? Oftentimes, the more smut a song contains, the more well-liked it is…the scantier a woman dresses, the more applause she receives and the ‘wildest’ soca artiste gets the most followers.

Ann-Marie Ballantyne

Svgpatriot@hotmail.com