A Caribbean Carnival Glossary: Key Terms Explained

Carnival has a language all its own. This glossary explains the key terms you'll hear around Caribana and Caribbean carnival, with links to fuller guides where you can go deeper.

The essentials

• Mas — short for masquerade; the costumed play at the heart of carnival. To take part is to play mas.
• Mas band — a group that designs a themed set of costumes and parades together.
• Playing mas — participating as a costumed masquerader in a band.
• Pretty mas — the bright, feathered, bejewelled modern costumes.
• Traditional mas — historic characters like the Moko Jumbie and Midnight Robber.

Music and sound

• Soca — the high-energy dance music that powers the road. See soca vs calypso.
• Calypso — the older, lyric-driven genre of storytelling and social commentary.
• Steelpan / pan — the tuned steel instrument born in Trinidad. See the history of steelpan.
• Panorama / Pan Alive — the steelband competitions.
• Road march — the song played most often by bands on the road; an unofficial "song of carnival".

The events and characters

• J'ouvert — the pre-dawn opening of carnival, with mud and paint.
• King & Queen — a band's giant showpiece costumes that compete for titles.
• Grand Parade — the main carnival day, when bands take the streets.
• Wire-bending — the craft of shaping wire into costume frames.
• Canboulay — the 19th-century tradition, tied to Emancipation, that carnival grows from.

Keep exploring

Browse all our carnival guides, meet the artists, or join an event.

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Photo: Loozrboy, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr (resized).