From the 1950s to the early 1970s the carnival was a place for queer expression and attracted performers from as far away as Brazil.
A dancer with Tribal Carnival is helped into her costume ahead of the King and Queen Show, part of Toronto Caribbean Carnival, on Aug. 3, 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Toronto’s Caribbean Carnival brings festivities and fun to the city every summer. But beyond the dances and parades, carnivals are and should be places to protest and raise awareness of injustices.
People perform during the Boi-Bumbá in Parintins. The city’s annual festival has shown how remote communities can thrive despite isolation.
The “Festival do Boi-Bumbá” changed the fate of Parintins, Brazil. Its success shows the crucial role that cultural festivals play in isolated territories that often lack material infrastructure.
People celebrating the Songkran Festival in Luang Prabang, Laos, in April 2021.
Xinhua/Kaikeo Saiyasane via Getty Images
Growing up is never easy, but visualising complex ideas can help. Animation and character design allow us to put a metaphorical mirror up to society.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro walks past the Granaderos presidential guard during a recent welcoming ceremony in Santiago, Chile.
(AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
The annual Carnival rituals subvert traditional French notions of family and sexuality.
Underneath the façade of the Caribbean carnival, historical, cultural and political undercurrents run deep. A parade participant performs during the Grand Parade at last year’s Toronto’s Carnival.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Fifty years of the Caribbean Carnival in Toronto has had a significant impact on Canada’s cultural institutions. It’s also helped educate Canadians about Black history.
Gabrielle Hosein, The University of the West Indies: St. Augustine Campus
Some deride a Carnival trend in which women revel in the streets wearing swimsuits and feather boas. But to feminists, ‘bikini mas’ is a highly political act.
A family catches Mardi Gras beads during the Krewe of Thoth parade down St. Charles Avenue in 2000.
Reuters
Each Mardi Gras, 25 million pounds of beads hit the streets of New Orleans. One researcher went to the Chinese factories that make them – and spoke to the workers who believe the beads will be given to royalty.
The real age of the rave was the early 90s, when politics and partying combined to extraordinary result. And once again we find ourselves in hard times …
The Carnival Circus: hitting your hometown soon.
Lewis Whyld PA Wire
This bank holiday weekend, London celebrates yet another glorious Notting Hill Carnival. Relatively few of the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of revellers enjoying the festivities appreciate the…