Who brought carnival to Trinidad and Tobago?
Christopher Columbus is the first known European to reach Trinidad, on July 31, 1498. He saw nearby Tobago, but didn’t touch land there. Carnival in Tobago and Trinidad is a blend of two points of origin: the festival heritage from West African countries, and the two days of Christian celebrations before Ash Wednesday and the dietary prohibitions of Lent. The former was brought by enslaved Africans, the latter by European settlers, in the 18th century. So Europe contributed the religious theme of two meatful days, in preparation for 40 meatless; and the social themes of costume dress, masks, and refined socializing. And West Africa contributed the boisterous, colorful, exuberant, joyous dancing, music-playkng, and singing in the streets.
