Caribbean Carnival

Caribbean Carnival

MasLife World TV is the home of Carnival, fete and mas culture. This is the hub for every carnival we cover — the road, the village, J'ouvert, the fetes and the bands — filmed where it happens and posted by the people who were there.

Carnival is not one event. It runs all year across the region and the diaspora: the Crucian Christmas Festival in St. Croix through the New Year, Trinidad Carnival before Lent, St. Thomas in spring, St. John around Emancipation Day, Crop Over in the Barbadian summer, then Brooklyn, Toronto, Miami and Notting Hill. Pick an island or a city below to see what we have from it.

Watch carnival videosCarnival calendar

Upcoming carnival dates

The next seasons we can state dates for. Carnival Monday and Tuesday move each year with Easter.

Latest carnival videos

Newest uploads across every carnival we cover.

Carnivals in the Caribbean

Carnivals in North America

Carnivals in Europe

Carnival by year

Every carnival year we have footage from, newest first.

Explore by topic

The parts of carnival culture we cover most.

Carnival questions, answered

What is Caribbean Carnival?

Caribbean Carnival is a street festival tradition built on masquerade (mas), soca and calypso music, steel pan and J'ouvert. Each island and diaspora city runs its own carnival with its own bands, calendar and customs, but the core is the same: costumed bands crossing the stage on the road, with fetes and J'ouvert leading up to parade day.

When is carnival season?

Carnival runs all year somewhere. Trinidad Carnival falls in the two days before Ash Wednesday, St. Croix's Crucian Christmas Festival runs from December into the New Year, St. Thomas Carnival is in the spring, Crop Over peaks in the Barbadian summer, and the diaspora carnivals in Brooklyn, Toronto, Miami and London run through summer and autumn.

What is J'ouvert?

J'ouvert is the pre-dawn opening of carnival. Revellers hit the road in the dark covered in paint, mud, oil or powder, following music trucks until sunrise, before the costumed bands come out later on parade day.

What does MasLife World TV cover?

MasLife World TV publishes carnival, fete and mas video filmed on the road, plus event galleries. Coverage is organised by carnival, by year and by topic, so you can watch a specific carnival's road footage, J'ouvert, fetes, soca, steel pan or costume bands.

Can I submit my own carnival video?

Yes. Anyone who filmed carnival can submit video through the site's submit page. Submissions are reviewed before they are published, and credit is carried on the video.