The Carnival Road March is the musical composition played most often at the "judging points" along the parade route during a

Caribbean Carnival Caribbean Carnival is the term used in the English speaking world for a series of events, held annually throughout almost the whole year in many Caribbean islands and worldwide. The Caribbean's carnivals have several common themes, all originati ...

. Originating as part of the

Trinidad and Tobago Carnival The Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an annual event held on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in Trinidad and Tobago. This event is well known for participants' colorful costumes and exuberant celebrations. There are numerous cultural e ...

, the term has been applied to other Caribbean carnivals. There it was and is still viewed as a musical genre. In

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

the Road March title has been officially given out every year since 1932 (with the exception of the years affected by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when Carnival did not officially take place). Popular Unofficial Road Marches have also been recognized in T&T from since 1834 after slavery was abolished. Prior to World War II, T&T Road Marches were referred to as "Leggos" or "Breakaways" by the general population but were rebranded by the Carnival authorities as the Road March from 1946. Scoring is based upon a register-and-count system devised by a Carnival committee before the start of the parade. After a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

pop song "

Happy Wanderer "The Happy Wanderer" ("''Der fröhliche Wanderer''" or "''Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann''") is a popular song. The original text was written by Florenz Friedrich Sigismund (1791–1877).Lord Kitchener with eleven wins, ahead of Super Blue with ten wins, Machel Montano also with ten wins and the

Mighty Sparrow Slinger Francisco ORTT CM OBE (born July 9, 1935), better known as Mighty Sparrow, is a Trinidadian calypso vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist. Known as the "Calypso King of the World", he is one of the best-known and most successful calyp ...

with eight wins. In the mid-1970s, a woman officially broke through in the male dominated Calypso arena.

Calypso Rose Calypso Rose or Linda McCartha Monica Sandy-Lewis (born April 27, 1940 in Bethel Village, Tobago) is a Trinidadian calypsonian. She started writing songs at the age of 13; over the years, she has composed more than 1000 songs and recorded more th ...

was the first female to officially win the Trinidad and Tobago Road March competition in 1977 with her song "Give More Tempo". The following year 1978 with "Come Leh We Jam" in addition to winning the Road March title again, Calypso Rose also won the "Calypso King" competition, the first time a woman had received that award. As a result, the "Calypso King" competition was officially renamed the "

Calypso Monarch The Calypso Monarch (originally Calypso King) contest is one of the two major annual calypso competitions held in Trinidad as part of the annual carnival celebrations. History While Trinidad's carnival has its origins in the 18th century, a singi ...

" competition to take into account that females also take part and have won titles. First Calypso recordings were made in 1912 so Trinidad & Tobago Road Marches prior to 1912 were not recorded that year but may have been recorded years later after recording technology became available to Calypso pioneers of the 1910s to 1930s. In 2019 Skinny Fabulous of St. Vincent & the Grenadines created history by becoming the second foreign artiste (after the German Obernkirchen Children's Choir) and the very first foreign

soca Soca or SOCA may refer to: Places * Soča, a river in Slovenia and Italy * Soča, Bovec, Slovenia * Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, by ICAO code * Soca, a village in Banloc Commune, Timiș County, Romania * SoCa, Southern California Other u ...

artiste to win the prestigious Trinidad & Tobago Road March title with a song called "Famalay" which was vocalised by Skinny Fabulous, Machel Montano and Bunji Garllin.

Trinidad and Tobago

Below are over 100 T&T Road Marches starting from this year going back to the 1800s when most calypsos were sung in Patios.

Antigua and Barbuda

Barbados

Grenada

Grenada Carnival, also known as Spicemas, was founded to celebrate the anniversary of the independence of Grenada, Carriacou, and Petit Martinique, which gained their independence on 7 February 1974. In 1978 Grenada Carnival was moved to the month of May by the Eric Gairy led government but after that government was overthrown in March 1979, the 1979 Carnival celebration was cancelled. In 1980 the new People's Revolutionary Government (PRG) led by Maurice Bishop brought back Grenada Carnival, which was held in May that year. After a feasibility study Grenada Carnival was moved to August the following year. Hence annually from 1981 Grenada's Carnival has been held in August culminating with their Road March competition.

St. Lucia

Invader has won the Road March in St. Lucia seven times. In a period from 1970 to 1972 and again from 1974 to 1976, Road March winners were imported from Trinidad and Tobago.

St. Vincent

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands

The Jam Band, formerly Eddie and the Movements has won the Road March Title a record 21 times.

Anguilla

United Kingdom

References

External links

Carnival Info Road march Trinidad
* http://www.toronto-lime.com/music/sfiles/tnt_roadmarch_winners.htm * http://www.tntisland.com/rmhof.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20120828083109/http://anguillasummerfestival.com/results11.php?eventID=42 * https://www.facebook.com/notes/eveything-and-anything-virgin-islands/st-thomas-road-march-songs-since-1978/105164392220 {{sic, hide=y * http://www.sknvibes.com/islandfacts/sitepage.cfm?p=170 * http://www.luciancarnival.com/content/road-march * http://www.carnivalsvg.com/roachmarch.html * https://madeingrenadawordpresscom.wordpress.com/tag/road-march/ * http://www.trinijunglejuice.com/home/carnival-grenada.php Trinidad and Tobago songs Calypso music Soca music Carnivals in Trinidad and Tobago Carnival music