Jamaica Carnival in March 2026 looks like pure party—feathers, glitter, soca, and road marches through Half-Way-Tree and New Kingston. But behind the costumes and corporate branding is a much older story the cameras almost never show: African resistance, Jonkonnu masquerade, plantation memory, and the quiet fight over who really owns Jamaica’s streets.
In this episode of “The History of the Caribbean,” we go beyond the flyers and tourism ads to trace how Carnival evolved from European pre-Lenten rituals into a weapon of survival for enslaved Africans, and how Jamaica—already rich with Jonkonnu, mento, sound systems, and rebellion—only formally embraced “Carnival” in 1990. We connect Trinidad’s Canboulay riots, Afro-Caribbean masking traditions, and Jamaica’s own festival language to the modern Carnival in Jamaica that city officials now regulate with routes, permits, and tourism metrics.
Our latest cooking video dives into the rich history of authentic jerk, correcting common misconceptions about the scotch bonnet pepper and the origins of...
He built the most important recording studio in Jamaican music history. He recorded The Wailers, The Skatalites, Burning Spear, Dennis Brown, and hundreds of...
Discover the rich history of Antigua and Barbuda in this captivating journey through time. From the first settlers and the struggles of colonialism to...
