The Carnival of today in Martinique
Today, Carnival is very popular. It is also one of the most popular events each year with the Round Skiffs Tour of Martinique. If parades or vidés, a word used locally to talk about the cortege, are organized in almost all municipalities, the Carnival of Fort de France is the most popular. Note that the city of Lamentin organizes its Carnival and competes more and more in popularity with that of the capital city.
On Shrove Monday, the parade of the Carnival of Fort-de-France is dotted because the top parade is organized by the municipalities of the south of the island. The Carnival is a wonderful time where all the costumes are permitted without restraint. And new characters have gradually emerged in this Carnival, the most popular, the transvestite, a man disguised as a woman, in sometimes very daring ways.
But what would this event be without its bands? The street bands that delight people by playing their drums, cha-chas (maracas), and other handmade instruments are associations that are preparing all year for this event.
It is not uncommon to hear drum sounds or Carnival rhythms outside the period of Carnival, evidence that these groups are in the process of repeating for Shrovetide. Carnival bands first appeared in 1975, and are a feature of the Fort-de-France Carnival, which is not a legacy of the Saint-Pierre Carnival.
Also, you should not overlook the traditional "bradjacks", very old cars decorated in a sometimes amusing way, that sometimes carry a dozen young men on their roof. They have sometimes been banned from corteges for public safety reasons, but returned this time with a control and a permit to participate in the show.
Another equally important character is the Carnival Queen. The elections take place shortly before the Shrove Days. A young girl who will be queen is elected during elections, which will take place shortly before the Shrove Days. To be elected, the candidates compete by presenting themselves in an outfit made manually from recovered elements in front of a jury, which will choose the most original candidate and the one with the best presence. There is also an election of Queen Mother, a woman aged at least 60, usually dressed in traditional attire, as well as a mini-Queen, a young person under the age of 10-12. King's elections are much rarer. After all, Vaval is the real king of Martinique Carnival. The three generations of queens will be present on the float of the municipality that organizes the parade.