Mardi Gras

After a few relaxing days in Les Anses d’Arlet, we returned to Le Marin to collect our boats bits, visit the supermarket and catch up with friends. Then, the next stop was Fort de France.

Fort de France is the biggest town in Martinique and we were expecting a busy industrial port. We were pleasantly surprised: the anchorage lies in the shadow of Fort St Louis and it is just a short dinghy ride from town. The town itself is not very touristy, but a ‘real’ town for local people, which makes it an interesting place to wander around.

We had timed our visit to Fort de France to coincide with the Mardi Gras Carnival – four days of parades each with a different theme. Every day the streets were full of costumed spectators, eagerly awaiting the bands and their supporters.

Day 1: Dimanche Gras (‘Fat’ Sunday)

This marked the start of the main festivities and at 4:30am we were woken by the sound of drumming coming from the shore. The pyjama parade was on!

The main parade at 4pm was at a far more civilised time. At the head of the parade was the carnival king. Each year a group of people design and make a giant model of King Vaval. It is a caricature symbolising a major event of the previous year. No guesses as to what he represented this year! After the king had been ‘introduced’ to the crowd, there followed several hours of music and dancing. In total over 20 different bands performed and all were accompanied by their families and friends and anyone else who wanted to take part. The dress code for Dimanche Gras is bright and multi coloured, so the streets were crowded with vibrantly dressed people.

The time slot for the parade was 4 – 7pm, and the bands kept going around the town until their time was up!

Day 2: Lundi Gras (‘Fat’ Monday)

A strange theme for today – supposedly a day for brides and weddings. Generally, it involved lots of cross dressing with men as ‘beautiful’ brides and women as reluctant grooms. Whilst we saw some of these, mainly it seemed to be parade of ‘be whoever you want’!

Day 3: Mardi Gras (‘Fat’ Tuesday)

Shrove Tuesday is the main event – the ‘day of the devil’. The streets were noticeably busier than the previous two days and almost everyone we saw had joined in the dress code – red and black.

Day 4: Ash Wednesday

Wednesday marks the end of the carnival and the start of Lent. It is the day that the king is burned and is a day of mourning for the passing of the king and the carnival. Black and white is the dress code for today.

In spite of the different themes, the days were actually very similar; loud music and dancing. The people of Martinique know how to party! It was a great few days and brilliant to be a part of the festivities, although my feet hurt from dancing and my ears are still ringing from the drumming!!

There were so many amazing sights over the four days, it was impossible to choose a few for the post. Check out the video for a flavour.