Carnival is the most popular event in Martinique. Since the time of slavery, it has served as a powerful moment of communal cohesion on the island and is considered a precursor to Carnival celebrations in the Americas. In fact, the very first Carnival celebrated across the American continent took place in Martinique. Although its form was entirely different, it marked the first instance of Carnival being recognized as a festive occasion involving costumes and popular celebration.
At that time, the strongest of the spectacles remains Shrove Tuesday, a day when the spectacle is at its peak in terms of atmosphere and popularity.
Carnival, two months of festivities?
We cannot repeat it enough: if you’ve read our other files on holiday celebrations in Martinique, you already know that festivals here go far beyond official public holidays. Just as Christmas isn’t confined to December 25, Carnival isn’t limited to the Shrove days. As soon as New Year’s Day is celebrated, carnival riders, walking groups, and other animators and mood-makers get to work. Parades are organized across the island, queen elections are held, and rehearsals begin. It’s not uncommon to hear the sound of drums throughout the day.
The highlight of the festivities is, of course, the Shrove Days. These days are rooted in Martinique’s Catholic heritage. They correspond to the period in the Gregorian Catholic calendar that precedes the Lenten fast. The term “Shrove” refers to the final days when Christians were permitted to eat fat (meat) before Lent began. To locate them in the calendar, one simply takes Easter as a reference point: the 40 days leading up to Easter are devoted to Lent, which begins on a Thursday in Martinique. The days just before Lent are the Shrove Days, when Carnival is celebrated. As a result, Martinique’s Carnival usually takes place in February or early March.
In the rest of the Caribbean, particularly in the former British colonies, the days reserved for Carnival differ. Great Britain, being a Protestant country, did not observe Lent. So, when the Carnival tradition spread throughout the Caribbean, it adapted to different cultural and historical references. One example is the island of Barbados, where its world-famous Carnival—popularized by singer Rihanna—takes place in early August. This celebration marks the end of the sugar cane harvest during the colonial period, which is why it’s called “Crop Over.”
Back to Martinique, from the month of January, queens, queen-mothers and mini-queens are elected to parade at the head of the floats. Each municipality elects its three representatives according to several criteria, which are the originality of the costume, its popularity among the public attending the show and the charisma of the candidates. Once elected, they will be honored during all the parades organized in the town before the Shrove Days and during the carnival parades.
Meanwhile, local associations prepare Vaval, the king of Carnival—a giant puppet that leads the procession. Created with enthusiasm and dedication, these associations work voluntarily for several months to keep the tradition alive.
Until Shrove Sunday, Vaval’s appearance remains a mystery to the public. His identity sparks widespread speculation and often becomes the biggest source of pre-Carnival suspense. He typically reflects a political or media theme that has resonated on the island.
In 2013, Vaval represented homosexuals preparing to marry, following the law authorizing marriage between two people of the same sex. In 2014, he took the form of a mosquito during a period when Martinique was grappling with the chikungunya virus. In 2015, he became a Sargassum—an algae polluting the island’s Atlantic coast. In the years that followed, Vaval often reflected current events, though there were occasional surprises.
Historical overview
An essential element of Martinican heritage, Carnival was born in the heart of slave society. At the time, Europeans living on the island—and European descendants born there, known as white Creoles—sought to continue organizing costume balls as they had in Europe. The Church granted them the Tuesday before Lent as the final day to consume fat. On this day, known as Mardi Gras, they feasted on meat and dressed in costumes during ceremonies reserved exclusively for their community. These balls were held in the Grand'Case and remained confined to the private space of the home.
Slaves, who often mimicked Europeans either to mock them or imitate their customs, joined the festivities by parading through the streets and Cases-Nègres in costumes made from various recovered materials. From that point on, Carnival became embedded in the island’s cultural codes. It is this version—rooted in the creativity and resilience of the enslaved—that was embraced by future generations, evolving from parades in slave quarters to vibrant processions through the streets of Martinique’s municipalities.
Carnival has evolved considerably. Its gastronomic dimension has faded, with no specific dish now associated with the celebration. Today, Carnival is above all a massive popular parade where people let off steam for several days, enjoying themselves freely in costumes that often showcase remarkable creativity and inventiveness. This exuberant procession of enthusiastic participants is known as the vidé.
Today's Carnival
Today, each bold day corresponds to specific colors, each referring to a historical fact. So Sunday is the only free day where all the colors are out. It is also the day chosen to present the Vaval puppet, which will be in the spotlight throughout the period.
It is also a challenge for the different groups on foot who animate the processions using instruments such as the drum, ti-bwa, chacha (maracas), among others. Bewitching dances bring to the carnival its festive side and popular cohesion. But what would carnival be without its floats or even its bradjacks, old cars decorated for the occasion that are suffering under the weight of ten young people (photo above).
Monday is the burlesque wedding that is in the spotlight, with an exchange of roles in the couple. The man wears a wedding dress while the woman wears a man's costume. Generally, it is couples already formed in civilian life who make this exchange of procedures for the tradition of Fat Monday. If other days, most of the carnivals flock to Fort-de-France, on Monday is a carnival is organized by a municipality in the south (the choice of the municipality is made several months in advance), which “takes the biggest part of the cake.”
Indeed, it is the Grande Parade du Sud, which brings together all the municipalities in the south of the island, that acts as a major popular gathering place. It made it possible to increase the attraction of the south of the island a little and to decentralize this event outside the capital city for a day.
Mardi Gras is red and black. The red devils are out to scare the youngest in the parade.
Ash Wednesday is the cremation of King "Vaval." For this purpose, the colors of local mourning are worn—namely black and white. The King’s weeping widows sometimes even bear fake tears to mourn the one who has been honored for four days.
At the end of the day, the one who was until now the king, Vaval, is cremated in front of the large crowd gathered at the accesses of the Malecon, the famous bay of Fort-de-France. After ironic funeral notices thanking all the participants, volunteers, and others who made the festivities possible, a ruthless arsonist reduces to ashes the one who was, until now, the hero.
During all these days, the festivities continue with costumed evenings, frenzied nightclubs, and discos until the end of the night.
The following Thursday is the first day of Lent, and it is certainly the calmest day on the island. No more instrument sounds—it's dead calm. For 40 days, nightclubs and other concert halls are closed, and take the opportunity to carry out annual renovations.
Unlike Guadeloupe, Martinique does not celebrate Mi-Carême (the day in the middle of Lent when people organize a parade to break with the deprivations of the season).
It will be necessary to wait until Easter for festive Martinique to resume its colorful and musical rhythm.