We’ve been in Grenada for three Carnivals but, because of Covid restrictions over the last two years, this is the first time that we have been able to join in the celebrations. Unlike the rest of the Caribbean Carnival is celebrated here in early August just after Emancipation Day. Although the actual festival is on Monday and Tuesday the activities spread over the whole weekend making it a four day party which everyone had been looking forward to for the three years.
We started the party early on Monday morning with Jouvert – short for jour ouvert meaning daybreak in French Creole.The main feature of Jouvert is Jab Jab – a portrayal of the devil dating back to the days of slavery where scantily dressed slaves covered in black grease or molasses danced in the streets in an attempt to offend their masters and polite society in general.
Nowadays men and women cover themselves from head to toe in black oil or brightly coloured paint. Many were wearing horned helmets representing the devil, and carrying chains and other paraphernalia in memory of the suffering endured. Trucks loaded with huge speakers pumped out ear-splitting dance music and the Jab Jab masqueraders stomped and gyrated behind.
Having been prewarned we wore old clothes and it wasn’t long before our face, neck and arms were smeared up with oil and spattered with paint. We got into the thick of it and had a great time although it was a little early in the morning to be drinking beer and shooting rum shots.
Seeing the glistening black bodies and reddened mouths in the half light of dawn was quite remarkable and despite their rarther satanistic appearance the atmosphere was joyful, everyone was in high spirits – glad to be able to celebrate Carnival again.
We cleaned up a bit before we got back into Shademans bus and when we got back to the beach we used sand and washing-up liquid to rub off most of the oil – probably not a regular spa treatment!
The next day scrubbed up and better dressed we went back into St. George to celebrate Pretty Mas, the more traditional Carnival with floats, dancers and of course, blaring music trucks. The masqueraders spend fortunes on their glamorous Carnival costumes: reams of gloriously coloured feathers are constructed into towering head dresses and their bikinis are dripping with sequins and beads.
The floats moved by at snails pace but the street was lined with beer booths, food stalls and barbeques which kept everyone happy. We sat with Suni and Martin under a palm tree by the bay and watched the afternoon unfold.
A picture paints a thousand words so enjoy the photos and I hope they give you a feel for spectacle of Carnival in Grenada.
