Many of us will visit carnivals and participate in the festivities that ensue, but how many of us know about carnival culture and origin of carnival?
The roots of carnival culture can be found in Roman Catholicism. The Romans would hold carnivals prior to Lent in order to use up the food that would go unused during the Lenten period. In some countries, such as Cyprus, the carnival culture still revolves very heavily around this premise.
The earliest example of such an event is that of the Italian Carnival of Venice. This particular carnival has its roots in the Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Bacchanalia. Saturnalia, which took place on the seventeenth day of December each year, was a festival dedicated to the Roman god Saturn, god of agriculture and strength. Bacchanalia, held on the sixteenth and seventeenth days of March, was held in the grove of Simila, near Aventine Hill, and was held to commemorate and honour Bacchus, the Roman god of wine.
Carnival
From Italy, carnival celebration spread quickly throughout Catholic Europe; first into Spain, Portugal and France before its influence reached the German Rhineland and traveled overseas to Latin America with the mass migration of Spanish and Portuguese in the fifteenth century. From here, carnival culture spread into the Caribbean regions. Interestingly, the United Kingdom’s popular carnival culture has its roots in Caribbean culture, as can be seen in the popular festivals of Notting Hill, Luton and Leeds. The large ethnic populations in these areas can be said to have contributed to the carnivals’ lasting and prominent influence of Caribbean culture .
Carnivals today are recognisable as a procession of floats and vehicles decorated with vibrant colours and exquisite trappings. Often, carnival celebration involve dancing in the streets to accompany the energetic atmosphere and spirit of carnival celebration.
Mardi Gras, perhaps the most famous and well-known transnational carnival, holds true its roots in Christianity, ending on the day before Ash Wednesday. With famous Mardi Gras celebration being held in cities right across the world from New Orleans to Sydney and Rio de Janeiro, Mardi Gras is seen by many as the ultimate carnival and international festival. Mardi Gras in Rio de Janeiro comprises of many different parades, including the Cordão do Bolo Preta in the centre of the city and the Carmelitas parade in the hills of Santa Teresa. Mardi Gras celebration in the United Kingdom and Ireland, however, is known more popularly as Shrovetide – a term which has lost almost all usage in the United States and other Christian countries.
I would love to hear more about this topic.
Hi, Congratulations to the site owner for this marvelous work you’ve done. It has lots of useful and interesting data.
Awesome info! I was honestly just thinking about something similar to this the other day so, it was almost
What abstract thinking
neat info, thanks for sharing
thanks for the article!!
haha nice article just added it to my rss feed!!
Pretty good post. I just found your blog and wanted to say
that I’ve really liked browsing your blog posts. Any way
I’ll be subscribing to your blog and I hope you write again soon!
Hey there, I discovered your site a little while ago and have been reading through all the info slowly. I thought would post my comment and just say hi there & let you know I really enjoy your site so far. Will definately be stopping by to read more when I have a bit more time !
Thanks,
Mary
interestingly amazing
great stuff thx
things make since now
hehe good concept
jolly good old fellow there
with the luck of the irish this is dreadfully amazing!
Hi. I like the way you write. Will you post some more articles?
Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.
Brilliant. I wish more bloggers would take the time to come up with quality posts like this one.
We just couldn’t leave your website before saying that we really enjoyed the quality information you offer to your visitors… Will be back often to check up on new stuff you post!
Hi buddy, your blog’s design is simple and clean and i like it. Your blog posts are superb. Please keep them coming. Greets!!!
Saw your Blog bookmarked on Reddit.I love your site.