Washington D.C - One June 26, 2004 under a sunny day over half million of carnival revelers from different ethnic backgrounds gathered at the United States capital to participate at the 11th annual Washington D.C Caribbean carnival from 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

   The 2004 D.C Caribbean carnival started on Missouri avenue, and swiftly went on Georgia Avenue accompanied with various street bands and groups (steel bands…), colorful masquerades, and large mobile floats mounted with huge speakers which kept carnival goers jumping to the sound of Soca, Konpa, Zook, and Reggae….etc

   Also, this year carnival showed a sense of unity and pride. The carnival was a mixture of many Caribbean countries like Haiti, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobacco, St Dominica, Guyana, St.Lucia, Cuba….etc gave people the opportunity to enjoy not only the event, but also to get acquaintance with other cultures via music, foods, crafts…etc.

   Additionally, carnival revelers proudly displayed their cultural origin by showing up or waving their country flag, wore custom flag made cloves, or using large banners to communicate ideas. For example, large signs were mounted on the Haitian floats that conveying ideas about the celebration of the 200th year of Independence from France that made Haiti to become the first Black independence country in the world. Also, some other signs honoring some of Haiti' national greatest historical heroes like Toussaint Louverture, Jean Jacques Dessalines, Alexandre Petion, Christophe...were also part of the display.

   This year event organized by the DC Caribbean Carnival, Inc. ended at 7:00 PM without any reported incident. More people joined the jump-off this year compared to last year making the 11 years old event as one of the fastest growing carnivals in North America.

The DC Caribbean Carnival, Inc. can be contacted at the following:

DC CARIBBEAN CARNIVAL, INC.
4809A Georgia Avenue, N.W., Suite 112
Washington, D.C. 20011

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Select this link to view Photos from the DC Caribbean Carnival