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Each year the cruising community is treated to a series of seminars called "A Taste of Carnival" sponsored by the cruisers' newsletter The Boca and local businesses. The seminars take place on the patio at Crew's Inn Marina and are hosted by Jack who publishes The Boca.  After a lecture, examples of the costumes and characters are exhibited and live entertainment provided. The following information came from those lectures and also publications of Carnival 2001.

The population of Trinidad is a peaceful mix of different nationalities and cultures.  In  the beginning, the island was sparsely populated.  Colonists were brought in from Europe, India, Asia, and Africa.   A large group of French monarchists brought their slaves to Trinidad to farm because of its rich soil. The French also brought their dances, parties, and elaborate costumes.  Each year, the French would commemorate their arrival in Trinidad with parties and costumed balls.  Slaves were not allowed to participate in the masters' celebrations, but were given time off afterward for their own.  The slaves mimicked the masters and mistresses, developing their own dances in the slave quarters.   Their costumes were a caricature of hoop dresses and padded tops.  To this, the slaves added what they remembered about their African homeland tribal festivals.  Carnival became a mix of European and African traditions with a heavy influence of French language and expression.

The first official Carnival was held in 1784.  Slaves were not allowed to participate in the parade but developed their own with a parody of characters.  Viey La Cou is the French patois of the expression Vielle Cour meaning Old Yard.  In the early 1800's, old yards in downtown Port of Spain, the capital city of Trinidad, were the scene of much activity, the beginning of Calypso, dancing, drumming, fighting with sticks, and costume making (mas' making) accompanied by much food and drink. After emancipation in the mid-1800's, slaves were allowed to participate in street parades and African traditions were finally observed by high society.  Around 1940, the old time characters began to disappear.  There has been a concerted effort to preserve the characters and their oral and choreographic traditions.  We attended Viey La Cou and were privileged to observe some of these historic Carnival characters with their unique movements and stories.  It was one of the highlights of Carnival for us. I have borrowed liberally from the pamphlet prepared by the NALIS, the National Library and Information System Authority, and will describe each.

The Minstrels come from the American minstrel shows around the turn of the 20^th century.  The participants paint their faces white and sing "Old Black Joe" or other old American songs , especially Stephen Foster songs, while playing the guitar and rattling bones.  This picture taken in 2000 represented a prime example of the minstrels.  When we attended Viey La Cou in 2001, there was an acknowledgment of the woman on the right who had passed away.  She was clearly the soul of the group.  Though she cannot be replaced, the remaining two were  seeking someone to carry on the tradition of this genre with them .