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Frequently Asked Questions
(and answers!)
What is Carnaval?
What is a Masquerade Brigade?
Who can join a Masquerade Brigade?
How do I join a Masquerade Brigade?
What kind of costume should I wear?
Who/What/Where is MOIFA?
Who/What is ¡Carnaval
Santa Fe!?
Who/What is ¡Carnaval!
What should a brigade have at events?
What is the "Complete-Lack-Of-Talent" Show?
What is King Cake?
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Q:
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What is Carnaval? |
| A: |
"Carnival, Carnaval, Carnevale – What is the origin
of these words and the rowdy festivals associated with them? The
earliest
mention of a Carnival celebration is recorded in a 12th-century Roman
account of the pope and upper class Roman citizens watching a parade
through the city, followed by the killing of steers and other animals.
The purpose was to play and eat meat before Ash Wednesday, which
marked the beginning of Catholic Lent – the forty-day fast
leading up to Easter. The Latin term carnem-levare - to
remove oneself from flesh or meat – was used to refer to the
festival.
The pre-Lenten celebration grew in popularity over the next few
centuries, spreading to other European cities and rural communities.
Italians
eventually shortened the name to Carnevale – flesh farewell – and
the word was translated into Spanish and Portuguese as Carnaval,
into English as Carnival, and into German as Karneval. Other terms
are also
used for the festival such as the English - Shrove Tide (fasting
time), the German - Fasching (fasting), the Swiss-German -Fasnacht
(night
before fasting), and the French - Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). All of
these names allude to the feast before the fast and many 16th and
17th-century celebrations included a mock battle between Carnival
and Lent which
symbolized this transition. "
- Exhibit curator Barbara Mauldin
As a festival, a "Carnival" type
event started in pre-Christian and pre-Roman possibly even
Egyptian
fertility
rites
preceding the onset of
spring,
the character of which was half-way between the magic and the ritual.
Masks were seen as conferring
to their wearer a supernatural power. Moving forward in time,
parts of the celebration can trace roots back to the third century
B.C, drawing parallels
with the Roman era fertility festivals of Saturnalia (in December)
and Lupercalia (in February). For Saturnalia, the Romans changed
the directions of the streets, sang and praised the father of the
gods, and eliminated social differences. Things were said in public
that at other times would not have been tolerated.
The festival's association with Christianity and Lent, therefore,
is a relatively recent one. It
would have been difficult for the
Church
to rid
itself entirely
of such deeply-felt ancient rites (which for a time it tried to
do), so it chose not only to tolerate them, but also to imbue them
with a
new
symbolism
as
the
last festival
before Lent. Some communities call
the entire festival season Mardi Gras rather than Carnival. This
festivity became an occasion with which to celebrate for a short
period the predominance of mirth, humor, irrationality
and mystery over daily reality.
Carnaval in the modern era is a winter
festival that often begins on the Epiphany/Twelfth Night
(Jan.
6)
and ends
on Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday", meaning Shrove
Tuesday) 40 days prior to Easter. Carnaval
starts as early as December 26th (San Stefano - the date of the
original Venetian Carnevale beginning), New Years, The Epiphany/Twelveth
night and February 2nd (Candlemas) depending on where you celebrate
it. In celebrating the end
of WWI and Armistice
Day at 11/11/11/11, Germany now begins
the carnevale season on November 11th.
Places especially noted
for elaborate Carnival celebrations include Rio de Janeiro, Salvador,
Recife, and Olinda in Brazil, Port-of-Spain
in Trinidad, Santiago in Cuba, Venice, Viareggio and Ivrea in Italy,
Nice in France, New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama in the USA, and
Santa
Cruz
de Tenerife
and Cádiz in Spain. In Germany, Cologne, Düsseldorf,
Mainz and Munich are famous for their Karneval celebrations called
Fasching. German Carnival parades are held on Rosenmontag (Rose
Monday), the day before Shrove Tuesday.
In Santa Fe, we have
chosen to start ¡Carnaval
Santa Fe! at 1:11 pm on November 11th out of respect
for the morning's Veteran's Day festivities. A Carnevale ogni scherzo é vale!
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| Q: |
What is a Masquerade Brigade? |
| A: |
The Masquerade Brigade is similar to the New Orleans concept of a
krewe, but much less structured for now. ¡Carnaval
Santa Fe masquerade brigades are composed of people in costume
who walk through the streets, go out for lunch or dinner, and attend
any of the Santa Fe social (or non!) events while dressed in costume.
The ¡Carnaval Santa
Fe! masquerade brigades will assemble for the first
time of the
year on Thursday, November 11th at 1:11 p.m. on the Santa Fe Plaza
to begin our ¡Carnaval
Santa Fe! winter festival. We encourage ongoing participation
in all Santa Fe winter events with your brigade, as a brigade and in
costume.
In Italy, the custom of wearing masks allowed the people of Venice
to adopt a different persona for a short time each year - we encourage
you to do the same! |
| Q: |
Who can join a Masquerade Brigade? |
| A: |
Everybody is encouraged to join. All ages! This is a community-wide
festival and the first year of an annual community event. The "Mardi
Gras" costume party on Saturday, February 5th,
2005 is the only event restricted to ages 21 and up.
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| Q: |
How do I join a Masquerade Brigade? |
| A: |
Many ways!
1) You can put together a group of at least four or five friends,
family, coworkers, etc.
who will attend events in costume, and have the group pick a name
and a costume theme, motto, colors, etc.,
or
2) You can
join
or even head one of
the
MOIFA
¡Carnaval! exhibit selected cities (Basel, New Orleans, etc.)
which are always-open brigades.
3) If you see a brigade that you like on the brigades
page, feel free to email that brigade's commander and ask about joining!
E-mail us at
with the name of your groups contact person
and an
e-mail
contact address
for
your
group.
If you
are unaffiliated
and want to join one of the MOIFA venue groups, send an e-mail to
with the message line “I want to join!”
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| Q: |
What kind of costume should I wear? |
| A: |
The costume theme of your group is up to you.
However, remember that this is a WINTER festival and we want to keep
warm! Think about something you can come out in (warm clothes
underneath, hats, etc.) from November through February. Need
to talk with us?
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| Q: |
Who/What/Where is MOIFA? |
| A: |
Museum of International
Folk Art (click to visit their website - will open
in another window)
on Museum Hill, Camino Lejo off of Old Santa Fe Trail show me
a map
Museum hours are 10-5 Tuesday-Sunday
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| Q: |
Who/What is ¡Carnaval
Santa Fe!? |
| A: |
¡CARNAVAL SANTA FE! is Santa Fe's annual winter community
celebration, now in it's first year, a collaborative project between
MOIFA, the City of Santa Fe, and the independent ¡CARNAVAL
SANTA FE! committees. The Convention and Visitor’s Bureau will
extend the ¡CARNAVAL SANTA FE! program from May to August 2005
as well as work with our winter events, encouraging travel to Santa
Fe and providing educational and entertainment opportunities to New
Mexico residents and visitors. In addition to sponsoring special
events throughout 2005, ¡CARNAVAL SANTA FE! will highlight
a number of special Carnival-related activities throughout the community.
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| Q: |
Who/What is ¡Carnaval! |
| A: |
A fabulous exhibit opening on November 19, 2004, curated by Barbara
Mauldin and running through August 28, 2005
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| Q: |
What should a brigade have at events? |
| A: |
First and foremost - brigade members all in costume! If possible,
it would be a great idea to have an identifying banner, and some
sort of common symbol (flowers, button, etc.) to identify your members,
if your costumes are not related in a readily apparent way. If you
have a brigade chant or cheer, you'll need that too, of course!
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| Q: |
What is the "Complete-Lack-Of-Talent" Show?
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| A: |
It's the annual Masquerade Brigade (entry open to everybody!)
Showdown of course! Staged as part of the ¡Carnaval!
"Mardi
Gras" costume
party on
Saturday, February 5th, 2005, the "Complete-Lack-Of-Talent" Show is
the brigade showdown concept created by the ¡CARNAVAL
SANTA FE! committee and will be judged both individually
(think MVP) and as a brigade. It's up
to your brigade to come up with the best way to showcase it's lack
of
talent in 3 minutes. Brigades need to coordinate in advance by emailing
us at
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| Q: |
What is King Cake? |
| A: |
In pre-Christian religions of Western
Europe, it was customary to choose a man to be the sacred king of the
tribe for a year. That man would be treated like a king for the year,
then he would be sacrificed, and his blood returned to the soil to
ensure that the harvest would be successful. The method of choosing
who would have the honor of being the sacred king was the King's Cake.
A coin or bean would be placed in the cake before baking, and whoever
got the slice that had the coin was the chosen one. When Christianity
extended its influence, many of the local customs were
incorporated into Christian
tradition and given a new spin. Catholic priests were not predisposed
to human sacrifice, so the King's Cake was converted into a celebration
of the Magi, the three Kings who came to visit the Christ Child.
The King Cake Today
Schools and offices are the main sites for king cake parties these
days. Someone will pick up a cake at the bakery on the way downtown
and leave it out for everyone to grab a piece, or mom will send one
to school on a Friday for the kids to share. You an always tell the
locals from the transfers in any given office because the local knows
what to do when he or she gets the baby. The foreigner just drops
it on the counter or some such, and possibly might not even bring
the next cake. Sacrilege.
The classic king cake is oval-shaped, like the pattern of a racetrack.
The dough is basic coffee-cake dough. The dough is rolled out into
a long tubular shape, then shaped into
an oval. The ends
are twisted together to complete the shape (HINT: if you want to
find the piece with the baby - which replaced the coin
or bean, look for the twist in the oval where the two ends of the
dough meet.
That's
where
the
baby
is usually
inserted.) The classic decoration is simple granulated sugar, colored
purple, green, and gold (the colors of Carnival). King cakes have
gotten
more and more fancy over the years, so now bakeries offer iced versions,
and even king cakes filled with apple, cherry, cream cheese, or other
kinds of coffee-cake fillings. A more-or-less standard
slice of king cake is about three inches wide. The ceramic babies
have been replaced with plastic ones, but many places now sell both
pink and brown babies.
Who makes the best king cakes is one of those questions like who
makes the best frito pie. Remember your manners whenever you
enter into discussions on religious topics and be sure to attend
our King's Day celebration at MOIFA on
Thursday, January 6th, 2005 where we will have participating Santa
Fe bakeries putting forth their best King's Cakes. King's Day (aka
Twelfth Night and Feast of the Epiphany) is the official
opening
of
Carnival
Season
in
New Orleans.
King Cakes via Mail-Order
If you need one from New Orleans, here are two good starts for ordering
a king cake:
McKenzie's: (504) 944-8771 Fax (504) 947-3187
Prices range from $16.50 for a small traditional to $30.00 for an
extra large iced cake, including overnight shipping.
Randazzo's: (800) 684-CAKE (2253) Fax (504) 271-5064
Prices: medium traditional (iced): $22.95, medium filled: $26.95.
Call them at +1.504.271.7611 for other sizes and combinations.
You can also order King Cakes online or even bake your own using
a recipe we found, just see our trivia page
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