MARK YOU CALENDAR: CARNIVAL TIME IN MARTINIQUE, MARCH 5-9, 2011!
Don't stop the Carnival! Martinique offers bonus days of revelryUnlike other Carnival hot spots, the party in Martinique extends into Ash Wednesday… and beyond.
From Rio to Trinidad to New Orleans, the world’s most celebrated pre-Lenten Carnival fetes all pale in comparison to Martinique’s Carnival in one key area – length. Each year as revelers in other Carnival hot spots wind down with the close of Shrove Tuesday, the party in Martinique keeps going, reaching a decadent climax on one of the most solemn days on the Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday. The fitting theme for Martinique’s “bonus” days of revelry – “Rejoice Today, Repent Tomorrow.”
The official dates of the 2010 Martinique Carnival are March 5-9, though the celebration actually begins many weeks prior with Carnival parties taking place across the island each weekend in January.
Officially, Martinique’s Carnival ends at the close of Ash Wednesday. However, in the island’s inimitable celebratory spirit, Carnival is revived three weeks later with a second bonus day of revelry known as Mi-Carême, or mid-Lent. Vaval remains buried, but cities and towns across Martinique spring to life again with colorful costumes, rum and parades combining again to engender non-stop revelry amid a Carnival-like atmosphere – a mini-Mardi Gras in the land where the party never stops.
Check MARTINIQUE CARNIVAL 5-NIGHT PACKAGES to celebrate with us!
