TRINIDAD & TOBAGO FESTIVALS

Arriving into Port of Spain just past midnight, we worried that we'd oversleep and miss the start of the J'ouvert or the Mud Parade at 4am. Were we silly.

Like a monster heartbeat, the sound of the throbbing speakers shook our hotel room--and our own bodies.The room pulsated to the beat of speakers on flatbed trucks on the street 10 stories below our room, winding through Port of Spain. The Mud Parade was beginning. The city was ready to party.

Long before dawn, we followed the masses and headed out to process through the streets. Heeding the warnings by those who had experienced the Mud Parade in previous years, we wore old clothes. Nonetheless, they were clean clothes--all the better to offer a target for the revelers.

Each mas group, the troupe that follows the bands, is provided with mud of a different color. Just a few minutes after arriving, ochre colored handprints were slapped on our backs, initiating us into the world of mud. Soon we were smeared in an artist's palatte of tinted dirts. Red smeared mud appeared on our cheeks. Gray mud streaked our legs.

Until sunrise, we shuffled through the streets, part of a mass of humanity that, for a few days, was determined to forget about reality and to experience the joy of Carnival, the largest such Carnival in the Caribbean and second only to Rio's blowout.

Following Christmas, preparations begin for Carnival. For weeks, residents celebrate with steel band practices, parties, and special events. January marks the Chutney Soca Monarch Competition, featuringthe unique chutney music that combines calypso and soca and is played using East Indian instruments such as the dholak and the dhantal. The action really heats up in February when nearly daily events include National Pan and Junior Calypso contests and competitions for Carnival King and Queen. The events come to a climax the days before Ash Wednesday, starting with the Dimanche Gras on Sunday night, featuring the most lavish costumes of Carnival, and followed by J'Ouvert. On Monday and Tuesday, bands process through the streets and past the judges in Carnival activities throughout both islands, the largest held in Port of Spain culminating at the Queen's Park Savannah.

Carnival is certainly the largest event in Trinidad, but it's just one of the many festivals that give couples the chance to take part in the "real Caribbean." Few places on earth offer as many types of festivals as do Trinidad and Tobago. With a diverse population that traces its roots back to India, Africa, China, and the Middle East, these islands present a myriad of opportunities to celebrate.

"I don't know if there is any destination in such a small place where you could find such diversity," says Dr. Carla Noel, Vice President/Director of Tourism for the Tourism and Industrial Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago (TIDCO). Within the 1,864 square miles of Trinidad and the 116 square miles of Tobago, Christian churches, Hindu temples, and Muslim mosques stand side by side, each contributing to the joyous festivals found throughout the calendar year.

After the non-stop pace of Carnival, visitors and locals alike take advantage of another type of diversity Trinidad and Tobago offer: different paces. While Trinidad throbs to the hustle and bustle, Tobago is known as a laid-back getaway. (Some say it's so laid back it's preferred by the "newly wed and the nearly dead.") Flights are packed for a quick getaway from Port of Spain to Tobago for a few days of beachside R&R. There's a good reason to rest up...as soon as the party's done, preparations for next year's Carnival will be underway!

On Tobago, summer comes to life at the Tobago Heritage Festival, a late July event that recognizes the cultural heritage of this tiny island. One of the top events is the Old Time Wedding, a reenactment of an 1800s wedding in top hats and morning coats at a historic church. Actually a play that changes every year, the vows are interrupted by dramatic events and locals roar with laughter when the ceremony is overshadowed by the groom's pregnant ex-girlfriend. Following the vows, the wedding party and the onlookers process down to the festival grounds. If you missed Carnival, here's your chance to learn chipping and shuffle along as the whole parade gyrates down the street.