Caribbean Beat — January/February 2017 (#143)
A calendar of events; music, film, and book reviews; travel features; people profiles, and much more.
A calendar of events; music, film, and book reviews; travel features; people profiles, and much more.
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Siouxsnapp / Shutterstock.com<br />
New Orleans, United States<br />
Mardi Gras festivities in Louisiana <strong>—</strong> then a French colony <strong>—</strong> date back to<br />
1699, predating the founding of New Orleans. Opening on 6 <strong>January</strong>, the<br />
Mardi Gras season includes weeks of masked balls and parades, culminating<br />
on Fat Tuesday itself. Spectators vie for “throws,” trinkets like beads and<br />
wooden coins, flung into the crowds by revellers riding on decorated floats.<br />
Another distinctive element: “tribes” of Mardi Gras Indians from New Orleans’<br />
black communities, in costumes influenced by Native Americans, performing<br />
traditional dances and songs <strong>—</strong> cousins of Trinidad Carnival’s fancy Indians. n<br />
104 WWW.CARIBBEAN-BEAT.COM
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