Carnival Prep Guide

Do you know everything you need to know to prepare well for a trip to Trinidad for Carnival?  Native Trinis know, and so do the Trinis living abroad who've returned home for Carnival year after year.  But for the uninitiated, planning can seem like a daunting task.  Don't worry though...reading through this guide will set you on the right footing as you embark on this wonderful journey!

Costume Guide

The Carnival costume embodies what Trinidad Carnival means to many of those who have experienced the amazing festival.  It is beauty, it is freedom, it is friendship, it is merriment and it is the culmination of a year (or in some cases, years) of hard work paying off.  For these reasons, the decision to play mas with one band over another, and subsequently, costume choice, require thorough analysis and the help of this guide!




Fete Guide

Experiencing Carnival "wholistically" requires that one partakes in both playing mas and in feteing.  Some people don't care for the mas and would instead, prefer to feed their love for the season by going to every fete possible from the unofficial start of Carnival immediately after Christmas to the last fetes closing out the season post-Carnival Tuesday.  Whatever your fancy, here's where you find out everything you need to know about feteing in Trinidad for Carnival.




Getting Around Guide

During Carnival, the number of people on the island nearly doubles.  Accompanying that swell in population is a significant increase in the amount of traffic on the roads.  So if, in addition to not dealing well with traffic, you've also never driven on 'the right side' of the road, are unaccustomed to potholes, do not know how to interpret the directions, "Go down so, make a left by d big tree, drive straight until you see a red truck, then make a slight bend down d hill..." then this is your guide.