St Maarten carnival

Hundreds of years ago, the followers of the Catholic religion in Italy started the tradition of holding a wild costume festival right before the first day of Lent. Because Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called their festival, carnevale - which means, "To put away the meat.”

As time passed, carnivals in Italy became quite famous; and in fact the practice spread to France, Spain, and all the Catholic countries in Europe. Then as the French, Spanish, and Portuguese began to take control of the Americas and other parts of the world, they brought with them their tradition of celebrating carnival. For lovers of Caribbean carnival cruise St Maarten is the best destination.

In many parts of the world, where Catholic Europeans set up colonies and entered into the slave trade, carnival took root. Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago are famous for their carnival, as is Carnival the Caribbean. Carnival celebrations are now found throughout the Caribbean and in large cities in Canada and the U.S.A. where Caribbean people have settled. The St Maarten carnival is held in April and those planning a St Maarten vacation can plan it to coincide with this much-awaited event. Many travel agents plan carnival Caribbean cruises around this time. Needless to add, the carnival is a great St Maarten tourism attraction.

St Maarten Carnival - How It All Began

Prior to 1970, the St Maarten Government installed a yearly committee to arrange and carry out activities to celebrate various holidays such as Queen's Birthday (April 30th), Sint Maarten's Day (November 11th), and Kingdom Day (December 15th). For several years, on these dates parades of troupes and groups were organized along with talent shows.
The committee was called "The Oranje Committee" and was made up of Government employees. The committee was usually headed by the chief of Public Works.
The festival site was next to Philipsburg Utilities' location. Later the "Festivities" were moved to the pond-fill area where the Philipsburg Jubilee Library and the Sundial School are presently located.
The committee received a mere $800 allotted from the Government budget, so many businesses donated generously to the "Festivities.” The electricity company GEBE supplied electricity free of charge.
The festivities lost their appeal when Sint Maarten Day activities were held on the French side of St Maarten. So the Queen's Birthday, April 30, was finally chosen for the Carnival Grand Parade, because it followed the ending of St. Thomas Carnival activities as well as coinciding with the end of the tourist season.

To stimulate the festival activities, bands from the neighboring islands were invited to participate. The Festivities were then moved to an area on the Pond-Fill, which was prepared by the late Raoul Illidge, presently known as Carnival Village.

The calypso shows were different then. Calypsonians had to sing three selections, a song of their own composition, one from another calypsonian and one extempo (a calypso improvised on the spot).

After experiencing financial difficulties in 1983, it was doubtful whether carnival would be celebrated the following year. The then president, Karl (Tall Boy) Arndell constituted a Task Force to restart the Sint Maarten tourism attraction.

The Task Force was initially formed to save Carnival in 1984, however they were asked to stay on in 1985 to help coordinate the 15th anniversary celebrations. In 1986 the Task Force disbanded and Carnival was organized from then until 1989 by the Cultural and Festival Committee.

In 1990, the then Commissioner of Culture, Valerie Gitterson-Pantophlet requested the former Task Force members to return to organize the Carnival celebrations. This group then became what is known today as the St Maarten Carnival Development Foundation.

Today carnivals are organized with great pomp and revelry in St Maarten.