06 January 2009
Get ready for Cozumel Carnaval - Mardi Grass - 2009
What a great tradition! Cozumel's
Carnaval is a tradition which has been passed down through many generations that celebrates a mixture of cultures that escaped to the warm embrace of Cozumel during the cold winter season. Dating back to the mid 1800's, Carnaval was started by young people dressed in vibrantly colorful costumes known as "Estudiantinas" or "Comparsas", who expresed themselves in the streets of Cozumel through the artform of dance, song, and fantasy.
The festivities of Carnaval peak each year with 3-4 nights of lively, colorful parades that include an incredible array of costumes and performing groups to delight the senses. By mid-day on parade days, Carnavaleros are rushing to get into costume to participate in the parade while crowds begin to line the streets hours in advance securing their own great view of the parade antics.
Parade watchers will see everything from harem girls to cowboys, butterfly stiltmen to kid wagons with pets, Royal Court floats, dance groups, and individuals in costume having fun and enjoying the festivities. All day long before the parades, groups are dancing throughout the streets of Cozumel, traffic is snarled and there's excitement in the air! Tradition of the past holds that Carnavaleros exchange flowers and candies with the parade watchers however, it seems the Mardi Gra beads are becoming very popular as well! 
Many of the parade participants are part of dance groups that have been competing for prizes in the days leading up to the parades. Many Carnavaleros have been participating for so many years in Carnaval that these competition events can get very serious.... in a fun sort of way of course! A typical group consists of at least 40 dancers, male and female, and often times even more. Everyone takes the dance and costume contests very seriously and many months of preparation go into both.
However, the competition is good spirited and everyone gets to be on display in the parades that follow so there are only winners at these events!
Plan to join the festivities and fun each year and witness for yourself that the Carnavaleros not only wear costumes, but smiles as well.
An excerpt from MSNBC 12/5/02 by Vicki Harbin
Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel
"CARNAVAL began back in pagan times, as a wine celebration for the God of Wine Dionysios. The Greek influence can still be seen today in t
he masks, dancing, drinking and costumes associated with Carnaval. But Carnaval in its present manifestation came about through a fusion of the pagan festival and Catholicism, similar to other popular celebration like Halloween and St. Valentine's day. The origin of the word Carnaval comes from the Italian word carnevale, which means to be without meat. Carnaval is celebrated in the time before Lent, at period during which practicing Catholics go without meat for a month.
Although first celebrated in Italy, the celebration soon traveled to other European Catholic countries, such as France, Spain and Portugal. Through colonization of other countries, Carnaval came to South America, the Caribbean and North America, where local customs soon mixed with the old, making regional Carnavals different. However, they all have boisterous merriment in common, and almost all are held in February or early March (Granada in the Caribbean holds it in the summer to attract tourists). No matter what language you say it in, or what you call it, Carnaval, Carnevale, Karneval, or Mardi Gras means a good time."
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