Elliot «Ellie» Mannette was a Trinidadian musical instrument maker and steel pan musician, also known as the «father of the modern steel drum.»
- Born: November 5, 1927, Trinidad
- (1) Selection Churchill Carnival
The Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an annual event held Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in Trinidad and Tobago. The event is well known for its colorful costumes and exuberant celebrations. There are numerous cultural events, such as “band launch fetes” running in the lead-up to the street parade on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. If the islanders are not actively participating in the masquerade, they are engaged in various aspects of the carnival, either preparing for it or reminiscing about the previous year’s festivities. Traditionally, the festival is associated with calypso music, with its origins formulated amid hardship for enslaved West and Central Africans; however, recently, Soca music has replaced calypso as the most celebrated type of music. Costumes (sometimes called “mas”), stick-fighting, and limbo competitions are also essential to the festival.