Canboulay (from the French , meaning burnt cane) is a precursor to
Trinidad and Tobago Carnival
The Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an annual event held on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in Trinidad and Tobago. This event is well known for participants' colorful costumes and exuberant celebrations. There are numerous cultural ev ...
. The festival is also where
calypso music
Calypso is a style of Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from Afro-Trinidadians during the early- to mid-19th century and spread to the rest of the Caribbean Antilles by the mid-20th century. Its rhythms can be traced back ...
has its roots. It was originally a
harvest festival
A harvest festival is an annual Festival, celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different ...
, at which drums, singing, dancing and chanting were an integral part. After Emancipation (1834), it developed into an outlet and a festival for former indentured 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
The music of Trinidad and Tobago is best known for its calypso music, soca music, chutney music, and steelpan. Calypso's internationally noted performances in the 1950s from native artists such as Lord Melody, Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow. ...
, for it was the banning of percussion instruments in the 1880s that led to the surreptitious innovations that gave birth to
steelpan
The steelpan (also known as a pan or steel drum) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago from Afro–Trinidadians and Tobagonians, Afro-Trinidadians. Steelpan musicians are called pannists.
In 1992, the steelpan was declared ...
music. It is re-enacted in Port of Spain each Carnival Friday in Trinidad.
See also
*
Canboulay riots
References
*De Ledesma, Charles and Georgia Popplewell. "Put Water in the Brandy?"". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), ''World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific'', pp 507–526. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books.
Culture of Trinidad and Tobago
Carnivals in Trinidad and Tobago
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