Canboulay
Encyclopedia
Canboulay is a precursor to Trinidad and Tobago Carnival
. The festival is also where calypso music
has its roots. It was originally a harvest festival, at which drums, singing, dancing and chanting were an integral part. After Emancipation (1838), it developed into an outlet and a festival for former indenturered laborers and freed slaves who were banned from participating in the masquerade carnival events – derived from European Christian traditions – of the colonial elite, and whose drums and religious observances were also outlawed in the late 19th century. Consequently, Canboulay has played an important role in the development of the music of Trinidad and Tobago
, for it was the banning of percussion instruments in the 1880s that led to the surreptitious innovations that gave birth to steelpan
music. It is re-enacted in Port of Spain each Carnival Friday in Trinidad.
Trinidad and Tobago Carnival
The Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an annual event celebrated on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago is the most significant event on the islands' cultural and tourism calendar, with numerous cultural events running in the lead up to the street parade on...
. The festival is also where calypso music
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
has its roots. It was originally a harvest festival, at which drums, singing, dancing and chanting were an integral part. After Emancipation (1838), it developed into an outlet and a festival for former indenturered laborers and freed slaves who were banned from participating in the masquerade carnival events – derived from European Christian traditions – of the colonial elite, and whose drums and religious observances were also outlawed in the late 19th century. Consequently, Canboulay has played an important role in the development of the music of Trinidad and Tobago
Music of Trinidad and Tobago
Calypso music and steelpan is what Trinidad and Tobago is best known for, including internationally in the 1950s through artists like Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow; the art form was most popularised at that time by Harry Belafonte...
, for it was the banning of percussion instruments in the 1880s that led to the surreptitious innovations that gave birth to steelpan
Steelpan
Steelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
music. It is re-enacted in Port of Spain each Carnival Friday in Trinidad.