Jouvay

The stretch of weeks leading up to and including Carnival — typically January through Mardi Gras — when soca music floods every airwave, playlist, and fete in the Caribbean and diaspora. Soca szn is characterized by new releases dropping daily, costume fever, road test parties, and a collective understanding that productivity is optional. For Trinidadians especially it functions almost like a different calendar year entirely, one measured in jouvert mornings and road marches.

(Caribbean) The devil as represented in a costume.

(Caribbean) A person dressed up as a devil-like character, in Caribbean carnivals, who carries a whip used for hitting other devils.

Any of a number of festivals held just before the beginning of Lent.

A rudimentary shelter or hut constructed from bamboo, palm fronds, or other locally available materials, typically found across the Caribbean and parts of South America. Typically used to describe simple open-sided structures built for shade or temporary habitation. The word carries a distinctly regional flavour and is most naturally understood in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and neighbouring areas. In contemporary usage it occasionally appears in literary or heritage contexts to evoke traditional island life, rather than in everyday speech.