The Cambridge Carnival International is an annual colorful costume parade, and Mardi Gras festival featuring live band competition, food, musical floats, crafts...etc with mainly south American, and Caribbean countries.

" Cambridge Carnival International has come a long way since its interception in 1992, growing from a small street fair to one of the most spectacular events in the Greater Boston area. As an indicative of this growth, masquerades and carnival revelers were double from previous years which pushed event organizers to move the event to a new location ( http://www.cambridgecarnival.com ). "

 

The parade started at 12:30 PM along Sidney Street, and moved down Main street to Kendall Square. The entertainment was provided through the parade by: dancing and marching bands, Soca and Reggae floats keeping carnival goers jumping on the streets, and colorful costumed masquerade groups which give carnival revelers what they came for.



       Contrarily to many other events, the Cambridge carnival is very diverse. This year the carnival exhibited not only a strong sense of unity and pride, but also of diversity. The carnival was a mixture of non and Caribbean countries like: Brazil(Samba), some Asian countries, Nigeria, Mexico, Haiti, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobacco, St Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, Guyana, Honduras, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Cuba…just to list a few... Moreover, carnival revelers and bystanders were also mixed from African and Asian descents to European ones which provide carnival goers not only the opportunity to enjoy the celebration , but some acquaintance with other cultures through music, foods, crafts…etc.       


What makes the International Cambridge Carnival different? The parade was just only one part of a bigger event. Organizers have done a great job by providing different activities along Kandell Square like: kid attractions, live musical performances, food, craft, CDs... vendors. Moreover, the best part was the fact the floats didn't stop playing at the end of the parade. Musical Floats have positioned themselves for hours on streets to entertain carnival revelers playing the latest Soca, Reggae, Calypso, Compas...tunes. And this had made a big difference, and also provided an entertaining atmosphere for those who wanted more, or unfortunately have missed the parade.
    

    The 2005 Cambridge Carnival International ended around 7:30 PM without incident. As it was expected, the number of participants has increased tremendously with better entertainments and groups. Surely, those who were at Kendall Square will definitely want to come back at the next Cambridge Carnival International.

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Special thank you to the Boston crew: Sandino from Dino Entertainment, and Lexo from Lexo Productions for helping Akolad.com to cover the Boston and Cambridge carnivals.



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Select this link to view Photos of the 2005 International Cambridge Carnival