When is Carnival Tuesday?
Carnival Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, takes place on the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, the 40 day period that precedes Easter.
As the date of Easter changes each year so does the date of Carnival Tuesday. The earliest date Carnival Tuesday can be is Tuesday 3 February and the latest date is Tuesday 9 March.
In some parts of Europe, the Tuesday before Lent is known as 'Shrove Tuesday', shrove being an old word for confessing - a day to cleanse the soul before Lent.
During the 40 days before Easter, Roman Catholics are supposed to abstain from all bodily pleasures, including the consumption of meat. This is intended to remember the fasting of Jesus, who spent 40 days in the desert before beginning his ministry. Indeed, it is proposed by some that the word carnival is derived from the Latin 'Carne Vale' which means a farewell to meat signifying the coming period without meat.
Despite its original religious beginnings, modern carnivals can hardly be described as solemn affairs, and the Latin American and Caribbean festivals share their excessive nature with similar European celebrations, where the festivals are an opportunity for final indulgence before lent itself - even though nowadays not many of the attendees to the carnivals will give up as much for Lent as their more religious ancestors did.
Carnival in Haiti
Carnival is known in Haitian Creole as Kanaval. The streets fill with partygoers dressed in elaborate, colorful masks and costumes. They dance to the beat of the year's new Carnival music, as well as traditional Haitian "rara," where musicians beat on traditional tanbou drums and play tin trumpets called konet. Cities across Haiti hold their own Carnival festivals, with the biggest one taking place in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
In the months leading up to Carnival, musicians compete to be selected as one of the groups who are given a float to perform on at the three-day festival. Some floats are usually given to popular groups in order to draw in the crowds.
