| Jump up, it's carnival time! | |
|  | | Enjoying carnival |
| | Where did steel pans originate from? What is calypso? What is jerk chicken.Find out the answer to these questions and more in our fun carnival facts. |
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 | Birmingham's first Carnival - The first annual Carnival in Birminmgham was in 1984 | | |  | The word 'Carnival' means- Hundred of years ago the followers of the Roman Catholic religion in Italy started the tradition of holding a wild costume festival right before the first day of Lent. Because Roman Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called their festival, carnevale — which means “to put away the meat.” | | |  | African influences - Important to Caribbean festival arts are the ancient African traditions of parading and moving in circles through villages wearing costumes and masks. Circling villages was believed to bring good fortune. | | |  | What's Jerk ?- Jerk is a method of cooking pork and chicken that dates back to the Carib-Arawak Indians who inhabited Jamaica. Captured animals were cleaned and then "jerked" with sharp objects that created holes to stuff with local exotic spices. | | |  | Calypso - Calypso in Greek means hiding. Calypso songs and music is commonly associated with Carnival. True meanings of lyrics are hidden behind a clever combination of words through poetry and rhyme. | | |  | Steel pans - are instruments made from used oil drums that have been cut off on one end and then shaped, pounded, and tuned. "Pan", as the steel drum is colloquially known, is an instrument invented and perfected by Trinidadians. | | |  | Carnival costumes - The first step in putting together a carnival troop is to come up with a theme or overall concept for the group then to develop costume illustrations for each section of dancers. It takes many weeks of welding, sewing, gluing, applying feathers, sequins, foil papers, glitter and lots of creativity, energy, and patience to create the costumes. But you must agree the results are breathtaking!!! | | |  | Carnival food and drink ( Yum Yum ) - One of the best features of Carnival is the food stalls and barbeques. Carnival food and drinks include: rice and peas, curry goat and rice, jerk chicken, fried fish, fried dumplings, saltfish fritters, Jamaican Stout, ginger beer, corn on the cob, Jamaican patties, mangoes, coconuts, sugar cane the list goes on .... | | |  | Non- stop music (not forgetting the giant speakers) - Much of today's carnival music is delivered on the road and in the park by giant DJ trucks with speakers blaring. However many revellers prefer to move with the traditional steelbands. | | |  | Jump up, Wine up - Carnival dancing is a spectacle in itself. Carnival dancing is driven by the beat of calypso and soca. The most common carnival dance forms are: Chipping - involves a shuffling of the feet Jumping up - a self-explanatory more energetic dance Wining - requires energetic pelvic movement ( excellent for the waist !!! ) |
Have a fun Carnival!!!
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