Caribbean Carnival is the creative and artistic expression of dispossessed people. The Caribbean Carnival has been transported to North America and Europe through the migration of Caribbean peoples. This is why we have Notting Hill Carnival in Ladbroke Grove, London.

Carnival originated as a pagan festival in ancient Egypt which was subsequently celebrated by the Greeks and then the Romans. The popular festival was adopted by the Roman Catholic christian church in Europe as the festival of Carne Vale. The Carnival festival was transported to the Caribbean by the European slave traders. They excluded the African slaves from the festival and had lavish masquerade balls. On emancipation the freed African slaves of the Caribbean transformed the European festival forever into a celebration of the end of slavery. The Carnival festival had a new cultural form derived from their own African heritage and the new Creole artistic cultures developed in the Caribbean. It is the Caribbean Carnival that is exported to large cities all over the world.

The word Carnival is made up of two Latin words, carne, meaning flesh and vale, meaning farewell. In the Catholic calendar carne vale, farewell to flesh, is a feast celebrated on the Sunday (Dimanche Gras), Monday (Lundi Gras) and Tuesday (Mardi Gras) before Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of Lent and fasting.

The Caribbean Carnival consists of masquerade, dance, music and song. It is unique as a festival as it incorporates the fine arts, street theatre, artistic and musical social organisation, spectator participation, political commentary, spectacle and fantasy.