Carnival began as a religious celebration. From it's earliest days as a celebration of Greek and Roman gods, to it's adaptation to the Roman Catholic church, to it's introduction in Trinidad, Carnival has always maintained an underlying religious theme. The Trinidad Carnival, however is not a rite of passage, instead it more closely follows how a seasonal or calendrical celebration is performed. According to Turner, “Public liminality is often the major phase in seasonal or calendrical rituals…” (Turner 1982). While Carnival does have a separation, liminality, and re-aggregation phase, the celebration is not about a life transition, and the liminality phase is a large and public ordeal. This is in contrast with the small, often private liminality phase in a rites of passage ceremony. Furthermore, everyone participates in the liminal phase of Carnival, and as Turner explains this is also a component seasonal or calendrical rituals as, “…everyone in the community is a liminary, and no one is elevated in status at the end of the rites” (Turner 1982).

  The Trinidad Carnival has always been a means of challenging the social structure and bringing change, especially in more recent times as different ethnic groups add different cultural elements to the celebration. From the days in Ancient Greece, Carnival was a time when slaves and their owners would switch social roles (often including the exchange of clothing) and in drunk celebration, satire each other's roles (Independent Traveller 2002). This continued after being adopted by the Roman Catholic Church, as reversal of norms were displayed, hierarchies were disregarded, and elites of the Church were parodied and mocked (Jahsonic.com 1996). When Carnival was first brought to Trinidad , the street parades were put on by African slaves and indigenous peoples of the island as a response for being forbid to attend fetes thrown by wealthy plantation owners (Hill 1972). Over time, as the street parades grew bigger, and more fantastic, the poor and wealthy alike both participated, and looked forward to attending them (Hill 1972). This was the first and biggest change brought about by Carnival: unity (even if only temporary) of the wealthy and the poor, the slave and his owner, the European and the indigenous.

  This theme of unity and acceptance is the driving force behind Trinidad 's carnival. As the island nation experiences a broadening of cultural diversity within its borders, as more people immigrate to Trinidad from different places around the world bringing their different customs and ethnic backgrounds, they offer a piece of their history and tradition to Trinidad via Carnival.

The first group to shape the Trinidad Carnival was the African slaves brought over with the European plantation owners. Mas', which is the biggest aspect of today's Carnival, developed out of the early street parties held by slaves (Hill 1972). Slaves also brought to mas' the bright feathers and beads we see in today's contemporary costuming (All Ah We 2004). It had been a long-standing African practice to use natural objects (feathers, grass, bones, etc.) and beading to adorn and make costumes for rituals and celebrations, and the practice naturally translated to Carnival costumes being made the same way (All Ah We 2004). Other African influences on Carnival include African drum rhythms, stick fighters, and stilt dances which are also seen in today's mas' (All Ah We 2004).

Since these times, most cultural additions to Carnival have come in the form of new mas' bands or variations to existing Carnival music and traditions. For example, the cow band (Figure 2) was a mas' begun and popularized by Venezuelans (TIDCO 2001). The cow band contains cow costumes, as well as matador costumes; the tradition is for the cows to charge the audience and matadors as mas' moves down the street (TIDCO 2001). It is common for bands to be specific to and representative of a certain ethnic group, and while old time characters are disappearing, new bands are formed every year, thus mas' is a showcase of the great cultural diversity in Trinidad .

Music is another aspect of Carnival that has evolved through time from various cultural influences. The African slaves brought their pulsing drum rhythms to the Carnival celebration, and when drums were outlawed by the European ruling class in 1883. By this time, there were also Asian Indians inhabiting the island who, like the African slaves, favored the sound of the drum (Dorson 1982). As an alternative to the outlawed drums, these two groups turned to using bamboo sticks in an effort to imitate drum rhythms (Dorson 1982). In the next fifty years, bamboo gave way to beating metal oil-drums, which turned into the great steel band music that Carnival is famous for today (Dorson 1982).

Realizing the different contributions from immigrants around the world, Trinidad brags about how culturally diverse Carnival is, and how instrumental it has been in uniting the nation. Carnival has been described as, “…a tool to develop new forms of looking at the world and its cultures… a tool to unite the world, to discover what we all have in common, and to celebrate what makes us different” (All Ah We 2004). Another great description of Carnival comes from Errol Hill, describing the celebration as, “…the focus of expression for the variegated cultures in the island” (Hill 1972). Carnival not only combines the cultures of the inhabitants, but it also tells of their history. The public schooling system in Trinidad has created “kiddies carnival” which is a less decadent Carnival that students participate in to teach children about their roots and culture, and to facilitate respect for the many cultures in Trinidad (All Ah We 2004).