12/02/2026
Welcome to Carnival 2026! 🎉 As we enter this week, we’re going to be sharing with you some historical background to Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival celebrations, using records located here, at the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago. 📚
Carnival Friday traditionally marks the start of Carnival, with the theatrical re-enactment of the 1881 Canboulay Riots in Piccadilly Greens, Port of Spain. During the 1860s-1890s, Carnival revelry by formerly enslaved Africans was hindered and persecuted by the colonial government, who considered their behaviour too rebellious.
The colonial authorities decided to utilise legislation and police intervention in order to try and restrict these Carnival festivities, and it is within this context that the Canboulay Riots took place in 1881. These riots led to the outright banning of the Carnival procession in 1884, as Peace Preservation Acts were passed.
However, by the dawn of the 20th century, the Canboulay procession was succeeded by J’ouvert celebrations, accompanied by popular mas characters like the Dame Lorraine and Burrokeet.
During these early decades of the 20th century, there was increasing interest and participation in Carnival, with new Mas characters being introduced, such as the Midnight Robber, Fancy Sailors, and Minstrels. The upper classes participated as well, for example in Lorry Mas, where they paraded through the streets while celebrating on top of vehicles or lorries.
The banning of African drums after the Canboulay Riots led to the emergence of tamboo bamboo bands to accompany masqueraders, which by the 1930s led to the development of the Steelpan!
Copyright ©️ The National Archives of Trinidad & Tobago. All rights reserved.
This photo shows a 2016 Canboulay reenactment in Piccadilly, Port of Spain, courtesy of the Daily Express Newspaper, February 6th 2016. This newspaper is part of the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago Newspaper Collection.
References: “Carnival of Long Ago” National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago Exhibition,http://www.natt.gov.tt/sites/default/files/pdfs/Carnival_Exhibition_Board.pdf
