The Guyana Carnival is now in its fourth year. The nation reintroduced carnival to celebrate its Jubilee – the 50th Anniversary of Independence – in 2016, and the festivity has remained ever since. It is an interesting factor of cultural change, of the popular culture and the rise of commercial carnivals around the Caribbean. But in a post-colonial context, it is confounded with ironies.
Carnival and J’ouvert (jouvay) are now settled in Guyana’s cultural vocabulary, they have inserted themselves in local popular entertainment, and are fairly consistent with cultural change, and particularly with the continuing rule of the popular culture. They now present themselves as fascinating subjects in the study of festivals in Guyana.
Carnival in Guyana is not new. Guyana is not a carnival country, it falls outside of the carnival belt, but carnival in the country dates back to the 1960s.
