curaçao Carnival History

In the festivities of carnival in Cura?o there is a special place created for the participation of the children, who have their own Queen of Carnival, Prince and Pancho and burning of King Momo.

Children's Parade 2005

The youngsters also have their own road-march which usually takes place a week before the festivities of the adults.

Tumba Festival

As we have observed before, carnival was from the onset a celebration which had its own local accents. In the history of the carnival of Cura?o an important element is the acceptance of the local form of music and dance called tumba. Carnival of Brazil has its samba, Trinidad its calypso, and Cura?o its tumba.

Weeks before the great march, a special festival is held to choose the winning tumba, which will be played during the road marches.The tumba festival has become an event, which can count with great interest from the public. The competition is fierce. The winner becomes 'Rei di Tumba', King of Tumba. The tumba festival nowadays lasts from Monday to Friday, with one day of rest on Thursday.

Farley Lourens won the Tumba Festival 3 times in a row (2003-2005), setting an all-time historical record.

There is also a children's tumba festival, which, contrary to the festivals of adults up to now, is frequently won by a Tumba Queen.

From Elitist Colonial Festivity to Popular Celebration

From the 19th century on when Cura?o was a Dutch colony in the complete sense of the word, carnival was held in private clubs, which organized masquerade parties and carnival marches.

After the Second World War a group of citizens took the initiative to create a celebration of carnival which was supposed to become a festivity for the community as a whole. It was also meant to sustain the then blooming tourism.
But these early celebrations did clearly not fancy the taste of the majority of the population and the event did not yet become really popular. This would take place only after 1969.

After this date the government of Cura?o also began to take part in the organization of carnival, but the success of this popular celebration derives mainly from two things: the enthusiastic participation of the carnival groups whose members dedicate a lot of time and energy to their fanciful creations, and the irresistible rhythmical power of the tumba.
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