Canboulay is where it all started...after emancipation 1834...the freed African portrayed his suffering by mocking his enslaved status...

 

 

 

The black and blue devils reminded them of their status daubed in black oil reduced to an almost inhuman state...

 

 

The pan aggregation on canboulay morning with rudimentary pans and organisation....was a reflection on the early steelbands...

 

 

and then the tambu bambu bands...pounded out a rhythmic beat...as the goat skin drums were  banned by the colonial administration ...the drums stirred rebellion in the spirit of the African...the tambu bands were the precursor to the steelband...

 

 

Canboulay is at the heart of the masquerade.