Welcome to the greatest festival on earth and the International Festival Museum dedicated to collecting, preserving and communicating its legacy! Finally, Carnival will have its own international museum space, which will be as vibrant, exciting, participatory and creative as the festival itself. Trinidad and Tobago-inspired carnivals are celebrated in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. All of these carnivals - including the fount, T&T Carnival - finally have a home. 

​

Trinidad and Tobago Carnival – “A Living Ritual”

Carnival was introduced by French settlers in the late 18th century to Trinidad as a season of masked balls that climaxed on the two days before Lent. Initially exclusive to 'free' people and omitting those who had been enslaved, Carnival was revolutionized by Emancipation in 1838 by the formerly enslaved Africans, who brought their own traditions of dance, music and costuming, along with their own passion and rivalry. Thereafter Carnival became a crucible for the conflict and creativity of the society, the crises of economy and identity, as it passed through colonialism, independence and under-development, through boom and bust, up to today.

​

The Trinidad and Tobago Museum (TTCM) - “A Living Museum”

T&T Carnival is unique, and so too will be its museum. Like the festival, the museum will celebrate freedom and the coming together of peoples. Its exhibits, analogue and digital, will be interactive, they will offer visitors a 365-day museum experience of Carnival.