Carnival Day – February 26, 2025

History of Carnival Day

We love the fact that the actual officiation of Carnival Day remains a mystery because it goes well with the idea of what the carnival is, and what it represents. For ages now, the carnival has always had an air of mystery and allure to it, probably because it provided certain thrills which could not be experienced elsewhere. Even in cultural studies, the term ‘carnivalesque’ developed from the word carnival, due to the disruptive and subversive connotations it holds. This idea was first introduced in the mid-1900s, in the writings of Russian linguist and literary critic, Mikhail Bakhtin. According to Bakhtin, the carnival is a space where societal norms can be subverted for a time, through the use of humor and a touch of chaos (sounds like a party!).

To trace the roots of Carnival Day, we must go back to the history of the traveling carnival itself. Way back, as early as 98 A.D., is the first written account by the Roman historian Tacitus, about carnivals taking place among Germanic tribes to celebrate the end of winter. We’re sure that there may have been other people groups worldwide, who had similar festivities. During the Middle Ages in Europe, as commerce began to burgeon and shape the economic landscape, agricultural shows and trade fairs began to emerge. It is fair to say that these were the seeds for what eventually became the traveling carnival. By 1861, children’s rides, which were powered by steam, had been invented but were not yet in use at carnivals.

It was not until the 1890s that the traveling carnival, as we know it today, really came into being in the U.S. The pivotal event was the World’s Columbian Exposition fair held in Chicago, in 1893, to celebrate 400 years since Columbus arrived in the Americas. It featured the world’s first Ferris Wheel and a Midway Plaisance — a strip of ground about a mile long that featured sideshows like vaudeville and burlesque, mechanical rides, games of luck or chance, and curiosity displays. By 1937, the number of carnival companies grew to 300. In some cases, circuses may also be a part of the traveling carnival, though the appeal of the carnival was mainly due to the sideshows, which often offered the layman a chance to glimpse dangerous or societally ‘forbidden’ spectacles. Hence the timeless appeal of the carnival, even though society keeps evolving.