We are in February and there is already talk of carnival as the main activity of this month, which in our country is also the season with the highest temperatures due to summer. Currently, as a result of misinformation and bad social practices that prevail among young people and adults, carnival games have been reduced to dangerous customs that go against any idea of respect and coexistence. Even in its most auroral times, carnivals represented the social debauchery accepted in a transversal way, as a method of channeling traditionally repressed attitudes:disrespected authority, neglected formalities, etc., but within a logic of complicity between the members of the social group that carried out the festivity. Let's remember a little the history of carnivals in this note:
The carnival season in Peru, that is, February, is associated with all kinds of games that involve the excessive use of water and paint. But what are the origins of the carnivals we celebrate? Etymologically, the word "carnival" comes from the Italian word "carnevale" that is related to the time when people ate without restrictions. Most likely, this term is an evolution of the Latin "carne-levare" that expresses the desire to abandon meat, that is, to stop eating meat during the entire period of Christian Lent, the preparation for Easter.
The earliest known carnival celebrations date back, very presumably, to more than five thousand years ago in the region of North Africa (Egypt) and to Middle East (Sumeria, southern part of ancient Mesopotamia) according to some historians. The origin of carnivals is, without a doubt, pagan. People were saying goodbye to their restrictions to behave in a way that religion would never have allowed. The population had found the perfect reason to celebrate great bacchanals as a way to say goodbye to their sins.
The Saturnalia, that is, the ancient Roman slave festivals, are considered one of the precursors of the carnivals. In these Roman celebrations, the slaves obtained privileges such as more food, more time at their disposal, consents that in normal times were denied them. Another of the predecessors of the carnivals are the bacchanals, a festival in honor of Bacchus, the ancient Roman mythological god of the product of the vine. At these parties, alcohol consumption was excessive and libertine sexual practices were not the exception but the rule.
Through the Portuguese and Spanish colonies, carnivals reach South America. With these pagan celebrations, all the traditions from the old continent find their channel of display and exhibition in the continent discovered by Columbus. Many times, these festivals undergo mutations in the new continent, depending on the regions in which they are celebrated.
The festivities related to carnival folklore in Peru also begin shortly before the start of Catholic Lent. There are records of barbarian celebrations in the time that followed the formation of the Peruvian republic. There are chronicles of tourists who narrate episodes with injuries and deaths as a result of the lack of control that was experienced when celebrating the carnivals.
The lack of respect towards the authorities was a constant in the republican Peru during the carnivals. People made masks that highlighted the physiognomy of politicians, mocking and laughing at them. These masks came to be banned many times.
It was during the government of Augusto B. Leguía, in the 1920s, that a carnival style similar to the Italian was adopted, all this as a measure to avoid excesses and clashes between the population and the police forces of the city. Allegorical cars paraded, especially through the streets of downtown Lima, revealing the most conspicuous citizens with their best and most elegant suits. This tradition was preserved until the 1950s, with the districts of Barranco and Chorrillos standing out.
The migration of the inhabitants from the mountains of Peru to the capital city at the beginning of centralization, introduced a series of peculiarities to the Lima carnivals, such as the dances and devotion to the land, the famous mountain Pachamama. All the provinces of Peru celebrate their own carnivals according to their local customs, beliefs, mythology and worldview.
Carnivals are celebrated in almost every corner of the world, the largest and most famous being in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), Spain (Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Cádiz), Germany (Colonia), Bolivia (Oruro), Italy (Venice), Colombia (Barranquilla and el Pasto), Mexico (Veracruz and Mazatlán), Argentina (Gualeguay and Gualeguaychú) and France (Niza).
In Peru, the most colorful carnivals and those that have preserved the greatest number of folk traditions are those of Ayacucho, Cajarmarca, Juliaca, Ucayali and San Pablo. Among them, one of those that arouses the greatest expectation, nationally and internationally, is the Festival of the Virgen de la Candelaria in Puno, where comparsas and parades extend along the main avenues of the city, in a celebration massive and multicolored.