History & Culture

The word "Canboulay" comes from the French "cannes brulées" meaning burnt cane. When fires broke out in the sugar cane fields, enslaved people were forced to march with torches to put them out. After Emancipation, freed Africans re-enacted these marches as an act of defiance and celebration of freedom. The Canboulay Riots of 1881 occurred when British colonial police tried to suppress the celebration, leading to violent clashes that eventually resulted in the preservation of Carnival traditions. Today, the Canboulay Re-enactment takes place annually in Port of Spain, featuring torch-lit processions, traditional characters, and the symbolic breaking of chains.