This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
Mardi Gras falls on February 21 this year. On this eve of the beginning of Lent, we traditionally took the opportunity to have a feast before falling into a period of lean fasting. Although this ritual has now fallen into disuse, in many places around the world, this day and those around it remain an opportunity to dance, celebrate and organize carnivals that are as flamboyant as they are intoxicating. Fasten your seatbelts, our journalists will take you there!
We’re having fun in Guadeloupe!
Flamboyant costumes, tightly-knit choreography, frenzied acoustic performances… Guadeloupeans experience their carnival intensely. Every year, from Epiphany (first Sunday in January) to Ash Wednesday, the emblematic celebration of West Indian culture shows the extent of local creativity through the vidés (parades) that enliven the islands of Guadeloupe.
Each more colorful than the next, these large parades take place day and night and bring together various groups, such as gwoops a poformations made up of drummers stretched out in sheepskin, chacha (maracas) and conches. Accompanied by dancers, these musicians take the streets of a town or village by storm during lively parades. In another era, these processions struck the spirits all the more as its participants marched past the body painted with a black coating as the maroons (runaway slaves) used to do in the past to better escape the gaze of their master. Also, all along the way, they cracked their whips furiously on the cobblestones—a role reversal that symbolized taking control of their destiny.
The most spectacular parades are scheduled on fat days and all groups — see you soon (skin percussion), synthesizers, snare drums and a mass (caricatural masks) — contribute to it. Highlights? This Sunday, then Tuesday, the streets of the capital, Pointe-à-Pitre, will be the scene of a tumult. Monday, make way for burlesque weddings, where men decked out in a wedding dress and women impersonating brides and grooms who are not very playful form mismatched couples with the most beautiful comic effect. The next day, the steep streets of Basse-Terre will host the Mardi Gras gigaparade and its allegorical floats. Vaval, the king of the carnival, effigy of a local personality who is kindly made fun of, will be the star, as tradition dictates.
Finally, on Wednesday, the whole archipelago will vibrate to the rhythm of the great black and white video, followed by the incineration, in Pointe-à-Pitre, of Vaval. It’s the brilé, which closes the carnival, but not the party, since we’ll do it again in mid-Lent, on March 16, with a parade in red and black. Phew, it deserves a big swig of rum to perk up, right?
caroline parent
In Vienna, it waltzes
In the Austrian capital, balls are serious business. They constitute a unique social phenomenon in the world whose popularity has been undeniable since the… XVIIIe century ! In fact, by prohibiting good people from wearing masks in the streets, Empress Marie-Thérèse killed two birds with one stone: she put an end to the excesses of carnival parades (she feared more than a coup d’etat) and she established the tradition of the ball. Thus, at the time of fasching (carnival), which begins on the 11th of the 11th at 11:11 a.m. and reaches its peak in February, there are a whopping 450!
Topping the list is the Opera Ball, the most elegant, glamorous, frilly of them all, as well as the Philharmonic Orchestra Ball, the Imperial Ball. Then there is the ball of the accountants, that of the cleaners, the dentists, the weightlifters, the girls-who-do-upholstery, the real estate agents, each trade, each group organizing its own.
This Shrove Monday, at the Hofburg, will take place an ultra-prestigious ball: the Redoute (masked ball) of the student association Rudolfina. Created in 1899, it has the distinction of being the last great ball in Vienna where wearing a mask is compulsory… for ladies. Moreover, until midnight, it is damenwahl, that is to say that they are the ones who invite these gentlemen to dance. Marie-Thérèse would be happy!
But our favorite is the famous refugee ball, which takes place at the town hall. It was started by human rights activist, Willi Resetarits, founder of the IntegrationHaus, singer and popular local personality. Here, the piercings replace the Prada dress, and it rocks hard under the beautiful coffered ceiling of the boardroom! This year, it will take place late, on May 13, and will pay tribute to its creator, who died last year.
caroline parent
New Orleans in the heat of the action!
In New Orleans, there’s no question of waiting for Mardi Gras to start the festivities. Carnival celebrations also begin here on January 6, Epiphany Day, with the traditional galette des Rois, and continue for six weeks, during which Mardi Gras marks the climax. The party turns into a real gastronomic festival, while all the restaurateurs show off their culinary specialties, in the form of ephemeral tables. On the menu, grilled oysters, gumbo, jambalayas, stewed crayfish, jumbo shrimp, okra stew, pecan pies and other delicacies from Creole, Cajun and American Southwest cuisine, often drizzled with hot sauce!
But the festivities are accompanied above all by a parade of allegorical floats and colorful, costumed and flamboyant characters, whose enthusiasm does honor to the reputation of the city and to its motto: Let the Good Time Rolls! To get a privileged view of this joyous procession that parades along the narrow streets of New Orleans, sit on one of the bar or restaurant balconies that face one of the streets of the French Quarter, where lies the heart of the action. If the crowds do not scare us, we can also sneak among the spectators who line the streets. It will thus be easier to catch a necklace, a stuffed animal, a cup, or any object thrown by one of the members of the krewes — brotherhoods which organize parades — which move on the allegorical floats decorated with the emblematic colors of his team, purple (symbol of justice), gold (symbol of power) and green (symbol of faith) for those of Louisiana.
If, today, the New Orleans carnival has become, according to some, a slightly decadent celebration, know however that it is based on very noble origins. Its history dates back to the end of the 17th century.e century, when the first French settlers settled in the United States, and it will remain linked to the French culture of Louisiana. With the abolition of slavery in 1865, carnival became synonymous with liberation, both of the people and of the passions. The Krewe of Zulu, created in 1909, is one of its fine incarnations. The best-known member of this clan was jazz musician Louis Armstrong, a native of New Orleans. This Krewe’s trademark at the festival is throwing decorative coconuts at the crowd. Whoever catches one is invited to use it as a tom-tom and join the ranks of the musical procession.
Marie-Claude Di Lillo
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.