Carnival Theme - Pan Fever

Caribbean carnival is a living legacy from the days of slavery. With their own celebrations forbidden, the enslaved people on the plantations blended their African traditions of mask, dance and drumming with a sometimes comic copying of the social customs of the estate owners. The carnival evolution continued through Abolition, Emancipation and Independence. The pattern of the European pre-Lent carnival was the foundation of a truly Caribbean explosion of colour and rhythm.

These are the Echoes of Freedom celebrated in the Caribbean Carnival of Manchester. The carnival in Moss Side was born in 1970. The organising committee, chaired by the late Billy Hanley, bought the joy of the Calypso Festival to old Bellevue Hall in Kirkmanshulme Lane. CCoM owes a huge debt of gratitude to the old stagers who kept our heritage alive and forged the way forward for carnival in Manchester.

Click here for more information on the inspirations benind 'Echoes of Freedom'.