Just snooping around and saw this....info on Cayman Islands' Carnival. Costumes to follow

FEATURED CARNIVAL: Batabano 2004 (Cayman Islands)
Batabano is Cayman's carnival and, appropriately, the name has a distinctly local flavour. Cayman of yesteryear was a turtling island. When Christopher Columbus discovered Cayman in 1503 he named the islands "Las Tortugas" because of the profuse number of giant sea turtles which he found here. Over the following centuries, the islands supplied turtle as a preservable foodstuff to the naval fleets based in Jamaica, while Caribbean traders would frequently anchor off Cayman to take turtle on board for the journey to and from Europe. Caymanians soon earned the reputation as being the best turtle fishermen in the region. "Batabano" is the word given to the tracks left by turtles when they drag themselves onto the beach to nest in the sand.

The heart and soul of Batabano is the Mas' (Masquerading) Bands who get the opportunity to express creativity, imagination and talent, sometimes through the interpretation of a social issue. While many of the costumes have been traditionally inspired by Cayman's magnificent marine environment with interpretations ranging from the regal mantra rays to the anemones, designers have begun to utilize their costumes to comment on social issues both locally and worldwide. Depictions in the past have covered the millennium bug, the world's refugee crisis and drug abuse.

Batabano takes a great deal of organizing each year. Most members of the Rotary Club gets involved one way or another, in the myriad tasks involved. Thousands of locals and visitors flock into the streets every year to celebrate Batabano. Steel pans provide the rhythms, and costumes created from a plethora of textures and colours fill the streets. The energy is electrifying. Communities and districts join together to create the floats and Mas' bands to compete for prizes. Design and choreography become more elaborate each year. It is a time to celebrate your surroundings, to display creativity, to voice social issues and of course, to party and unite

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