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local Wednesday 15 February 2023
History of Carnival in Aruba

1954-1965
The third era of Aruba’s carnival
began when the native Aruban
and English groups joined to plan
the first public carnival for the en-
tire island, under a (temporary)
Central Carnival Committee. With
Club Tivoli as a host, the represen-
tatives of various social clubs held
a meeting to coordinate their ef-
forts for a single, unique Carnival
parade in Oranjestad, combining
steelband, floats and musicians in
costumes and masks. The Carnival
Committee organized the first Car-
nival Queen election. organizer of the Carnival festivities,
however, it was not the only one: In
In 1957, the tradition of having 1981, Tivoli Social Club established
two big parades began; the first in the Lighting Parade.
San Nicolas and the second in the
capital of Oranjestad. After eight Nowadays, Aruba’s Carnival has
years, Calypso and Roadmarch grown to become one of the big-
became an integral part of the gest in the Caribbean, with an en-
(VisitAruba.com) – Each year in can style. These seasonal festivities Carnival season with the introduc- tire month of parades and activi-
January and February, Aruba cel- were mainly centered around Hal- tion of Calypso contests. ties.
ebrates another edition of its popu- loween, Christmas and Carnival,
lar and impressive Carnival season. and became the first step on the 1966-present For more information, visit https://
The incredible atmosphere and road to the carnival celebrations The first year of this era was known www.visitaruba.com/things-to-do/
cultural diversity during carnival is that we know today. for the establishment of SAC – The carnival/arubas-carnival-history/
definitely something that you need Aruban Carnival Foundation. This To see more photographs of the
to experience. Carnival has its ori- 1945-1954 committee was founded at ex- history of Aruba’s carnival, visit
gins in the 1920s, and it evolved During these years, the Lago Re- actly 11:11am on the 11th day of the archives of the National Li-
through different cultural influenc- finery began reaching its employ- the 11th month, known as Fools brary of Aruba https://archive.org/
es to arrive to what we know and ment peak, with most of the recruit- Day. The Committee was the main search?query=carnaval+arubaq
love today. ing done in the English-speaking
islands in the Caribbean, namely
1921-1945 Trinidad, Jamaica and British Guy- Carnival 2023 schedule
The first signs of Carnival celebra- ana. These English-speaking mi-
tions began in 1921, when some of grants were the first to organize a THURSDAY FEB 16 SUNDAY FEB 19
the many social clubs would have parade in San Nicolas for the allied LIGHTING PARADE SAN NIOLAS BURNING OF MOMO – CARNIVAL 69
parties with costumes. These par- victory in World War II. It was these SAN NICOLAS 8PM-2AM CARNIVAL HARBOUR ARENA
ties would take place at the ven- immigrants who enriched Aruba’s 7PM-9PM
ues of the social clubs and were Trinidadian-style Carnival. SATURDAY FEB 18
primarily elite balls with European SAN NICOLAS GRAND CARNIVAL MONDAY FEB 20
style, like debutant balls and cos- Meanwhile, the carnival celebra- PARADE CARNIVAL MONDAY
SAN NICOLAS 12PM-6PM
tume parties to celebrate the fes- tions of Carnival at the social clubs TUESDAY FEB 21
tivities of the season. After some were becoming bigger and big- SUNDAY FEB 19 OLD MASK PARADE
years, the Americans in San Nico- ger. Every club had a Carnival ARUBA’S 69TH GRAND CARNIVAL SAN NICOLAS 8PM-12AM
las who were working at the Lago Queen election on the island, and PARADE
Refinery introduced their own cele- the first parades were organized ORANJESTAD 11AM-6PM WEDNESDAY FEB 22
brations for the season, with Ameri- by Aruba’s oldest social club, Tivoli. ASH WEDNESDAY