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Street dancing - Haiti Kanaval Picture 2015

The Caribbean Carnival's origins began in archaic Egypt, and were then adopted by the Greeks and Romans as a pagan spring festival at a later period. Eventually the Catholic Church in Europe celebrated Carnival as Carne Vale, literal translation: flesh farewell. The words indicate reveling in the flesh and all its pleasures before the beginning of Lenten season, Ash Wednesday, when pleasure is forsaken for purification in preparation for Easter Sunday and Christ's rising from the dead.

European slave traders brought Carnival to the Caribbean county of Trinidad as an opulent masked ball for the elite class. They imported slaves from West and Central Africa, who brought with them elements of Carnival: masquerade, music, and song traditions. But the slaves were not allowed to participate in the lavish event meant only for the upper classes.

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