Mashramani

The festival

On February 23, Guyana celebrated its Republic — and its carnival was Mashramani, "Mash" for intimates. The name comes from an arawak word, mashirimehi, "the celebration after the work accomplished": invented in Linden in 1970, the year when the country became a republic (February 23, 1970), it became the national feast that brings together the six peoples of Guyana — Africans, Indians, Native Americans, Europeans, Chinese and Portuguese.

In Georgetown, the great parade of tanks and masked bands descends Vlissengen Road to National Park, to the sound of steelbands, calypso, soca and chutney. All of February leads to D-Day: calypso and soca monarchs contest, steelpan panorama, children's mash and I open night before dawn of 23.