J'ouvert (pronounced "Jou-vay") is derived from French patois and means 'daybreak'. Jouvert marks the official start of the two day carnival celebrations in Trinidad & Tobago. It usually officially commences at 4:00 a.m. on Carnival Monday.
Carnival Monday opens with J’Ouvert at 4am, when revellers parade through the streets immersed in paint, grease and mud until sunrise.
Men dress as women, women as men, grown-ups in baby’s diapers; “respectable” bankers and businessmen drape themselves in chains and torn clothes, paint and mud covered devils menace passers-by – but it’s all in good fun, a chance to enjoy being wet and messy, licence to “get on bad”.
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