On Friday morning, a group of us headed down to the National Stadium for J’ouvert. This is an annual event involving road marches, costumes, soca music and paint or powder. We arrived at about 230am, ate some soup, chatted and waited. The parade started at about 4am. It was a blast, especially because we ended up getting pulled onto the float/truck of someone we had previously met.
The road march is a procession of thousands of people dancing alongside huge trucks (which carry gigantic speakers) upon which people dance and eat and drink.
A bit of history about J’ouvert- it is a Trinidadian tradition. The word means ‘day break’ and is a contraction of jour ouvert. It was introduced to Trinidad by French settlers in the 1780s and was cultivated by emancipated slaves. People would traditionally cover themselves with mud but this practice now includes paint and powder and even chocolate. The idea, I’ve heard, is that everyone lets loose and discards for a few hours the trappings of their social class. “Doesn’t matter if you are uptown or downtown, everybody is just having a good time,” someone told me yesterday.
Check out this song by Trinidadian artist Bunji Garlin. It seemed to be blasting 24/7 this carnival season. I got home about 6am, the time I am usually just about to go for a run. The sun was rising and the party winding down. Have a great Sunday!