SHARE TRAVEL NEWS: See the fascinating Caribbean’s Carnivals at the Trinidad

We Caribbean carnival devotees, counting down the days until the region’s biggest bacchanal erupts on the streets of Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Feb. 27 and 28, have a dream. A dream that one day carnival will grace us with its life-affirming presence not once a year but once a month. That one day all of humanity can pause during mundane daily routines and take solace in the fact that right now, somewhere in the world, life is being measured out in music and dance and feathers and glitter, not conference calls and crowded commutes: Somewhere, it is carnival.

That dream may be turning into reality.

Throughout 2016, tens of thousands of revelers flocked to over a dozen destinations to partake in carnival celebrations. From Jamaica to Los Angeles, London to Bermuda, Cayman to Toronto, they indulged in costumed parades, extravagant fetes and frenetic soca concerts, and were living proof that Caribbean carnival culture is growing globally, thanks, largely, to one island: Trinidad.

“Carnival to Trinidadians is like soccer to Brazilians,” said Wayne Henry, a founder of ValeVibe, a 23-year-old Trinidadian events company. “In the past, we’ve tended to keep our culture to ourselves, but now Trinis have gained the confidence to export something we certainly do well: party and have a good time.” .

This exportation — call it the Trini-fication of carnival — has become the antidote to what Trinidadians call tabanca: heart-wrenching post-carnival pain fueled by the knowledge that the next bacchanal is a whole year away...... keep reading ..... http://nyti.ms/2mOAizz