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59 

The Haitian Carnival & Rara: 

Avenues for Political & Religious 

Assertion by Haiti’s Poor 

Mahavish Mahmood 
 

Celebrations and festivals have a wide-ranging participation 
from, and impact on, the general Haitian populace and its politics 
and culture. Haitian festivals such as the Rara function as a space for 
assertion and as a means of self-identification by the poor in a nation 
overwhelmingly controlled by political and religious elites. These 
carnivals are sites of traditional and popular aspects of Haitian 
culture (such as Vodou) and are inserted and celebrated as both 
festivity and as a proclamation of personal, popular politics. Vodou is 
then placed into the national discourse where it is employed to 
combat the entrenched power structure of the Roman Catholic 
Church. Through transgressive costumes and musical lyrics, the 
lower-class attempts to reclaim some of its lost power from 
traditional Haitian power-brokers; these brokers can be the 
oppressive government of the day or the Roman Catholic Church. 
Haitian festivals and carnivals therefore serve two primary 
oppositional functions, firstly as a subversive political force, and 
secondly as a counter-cultural religious force that resists the norms 
and mores heavily endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church. 

 
 The Haitian Carnival with its wide reach and unstoppable 
momentum provides a meaningful political voice in a nation where 
the ability to be heard is often solely controlled by elites. Averill 
states that the “Haitian carnival is thoroughly permeated with 
political meanings” and that it has a “seemingly powerful role in 
Haitian history.”1 He declares that the carnival with its parades, 
music, and costumes, is infused at every turn with both tacit and 
explicit political messages. Thus the carnival serves as an ideal 
medium for political expression. This is in part due to the fact that it 
is a widely attended event with a large number of eager participants - 
therefore political messages have a perfect opportunity to be heard 
throughout the country.2 The carnival is a unique celebration where 
participants are “swept up in collective enthusiasm” with the 

                                                           
1 Gage Averill, “Anraje to Angaje: Carnival Politics and Music in Haiti,” 

Ethnomusicology 38, no. 2 (Spring-Summer, 1994): 217. 
2 Ibid. 



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excitement, the anonymity, and the pressures of the crowd often 
becoming a very serious force.3 Numerous Haitian governments have 
understood the power of Haitian carnivals and festivals and have 
sought to stealthily insert themselves within this space. In 1964, the 
carnival was actually themed “Papa Doc for Life,” referring to the 
vote on extending Jean-Claude Duvalier’s reign until the end of his 
life. The Haitian Carnival was used as a political stage with the 
playing of “campaign theme songs” to sway the vote for the 
“President-for-Life” campaign.4 Time and time again the political 
elite have tried to intrude into the Haitian Carnival’s political and 
cultural sphere. In 1995, at a roots music festival, Averill notes how a 
concert avenue became the scene of a photo-op for Aristide.5 
Aristide’s government entered this realm through what in other 
nations would be a fairly innocent act, via the sponsorship of the 
festival by the Ministry of Education and Culture.6 By firmly 
entrenching themselves in this subversive space, the government 
attempted to extend its reach and control on the Haitian public in 
one of the few avenues available for political and cultural freedom. 
The introduction of leading politicians in popular carnivals points to 
the significance that such carnivals can have in garnering political 
influence and legitimacy. 
 

Music is a central aspect in Haitian Carnival; there are 
musicians on every street playing to receptive ears, providing an 
excellent means through which to transmit diverse political thoughts 
and ideas. Averill states that “[t]he powerful appeal of music – its 
engagement with human emotions – is the reason it serves 
effectively as an instrument of politics and a medium of power.”7 He 
goes on to say that music both “creates” and “evokes” memories and 
that with political lyrics accompanying the music, the emotions 
attached to the message are sure to remain in mind.8 The powerful 
associations that music creates in hearts and minds greatly 
contribute to its function as a source for amplifying political thinking 
and sentiment. As Averill argues, it has to have the “potential … to 

                                                           
3 Averill, “Anraje to Angaje: Carnival Politics and Music in Haiti,” 219. 
4 Averill, “Anraje to Angaje: Carnival Politics and Music in Haiti,” 229. 
5 Gage Averill, A Day For the Hunter, a Day For the Prey: Popular Music and 

Power in Haiti (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997), 208-209. 
6 Ibid.  
7 Averill, A Day For the Hunter, a Day For the Prey: Popular Music and Power in 

Haiti, 19. 
8 Ibid. 



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set human emotions in motion.”9 With music playing at every corner 
and enthusiastic listeners abounding, countless political connections 
and memories are made.  

 
 Political leaders have always been aware of the potential of 
music to have a disruptive influence and power amongst the general 
public. During the Haitian Carnival of 1990 for example, the ruling 
Haitian military was at first unsure if the popular group Boukman 
Eksperyan’s songs, “Ke-M Pa Sote,” “My Heart Doesn’t Leap” or “I 
am Not Afraid,” was supporting or condemning their regime. When 
the song became a rallying cry for opponents of the military’s reign 
however, the group’s political allegiance and the effect of its 
influence became quite clear and thus dangerous.10 The Haitian 
military rulers of the 1990s were surely not the first who were aware 
of the political power of music. During the presidency of François 
Duvalier, in order to mark the occasion of his first Haitian Carnival 
in power, he had song writers draft lyrics to popular music which 
spoke of the supposed esteem that Haiti’s poor held him in.11 The 
government of Haiti even created its own types of “mini-carnivals” in 
the form of koudyays (from the French “coup de jaille” or a 
“gushing/surging event”). In these koudyays, government-
sponsored singers sang about the greatness of the political figure of 
the day, hoping to both inspire civil society and to scare away 
opponents of the leader.12 The music of the carnival has been, and 
continues to be, a powerful force that the political elite of Haiti are 
eager to control and co-opt for their own ends - either by inserting 
themselves into carnivals or by creating their own versions of revelry 
which disseminate state-approved political messages. 
 
 The carnival also serves as a backdrop for other forms of 
artistic expression which are often more overt in their political 
content. From murals, to costumes, to plays, the carnival with its 
cultivation of the subversive and provocative is the ideal space for 
disseminating unflattering thoughts about the political elite. During 
the Rara festival (which takes place around the same time as Easter) 

                                                           
9 Averill, A Day For the Hunter, a Day For the Prey: Popular Music and Power in 

Haiti, 20. 
10 Michael D. Largey, “Politics on the Pavement: Haitian Rara as a 

Traditionalizing Process,” The Journal of American Folklore 113, no. 449 

(Summer, 2000): 242. 
11 Largey, 246. 
12 Largey, 247. 



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ochans, or “militaristic musical salutes” that often refer to military 
leaders, are also used as political performance pieces.13 According to 
McAlister ochan is not merely a festive exhibition but a “traditionally 
sanctioned negotiation of power and status between classes,” a type 
of “ritualized moment of political patronage…through a performance 
of loyalty and homage … a monetary demand [too].”14 In this 
example, this particular festival performance has clear political 
implications at the local level, with the exchange of money for 
political support featuring prominently. Costumes from the Rara 
festival are seemingly based upon French courtly styles from the 18th 
century, parodying in earnestness and mocking the historical politics 
of their island nation.15  
 
 The most prominent counter-cultural force during carnival 
is Vodou; with its foundation in African spirituality it presents a 
serious threat to the hegemony of the Catholic Church in Haiti. 
Vodou is mostly practiced by the rural-poor and festivals such as 
Rara allow their religious beliefs to enter into the mainstream.16 As 
previously mentioned, political leaders such as Papa Doc Duvalier 
commissioned lyrics to popular songs in order to appeal to the lower 
classes. One of the ways this was done was by having Vodou-inspired 
imagery and themes within the lyrics, showing the government’s 
strategic understanding of the importance of Vodou to the general 
Haitian population.17 The Roman Catholic Church has repeatedly 
attempted to erase Vodou from Haiti. In the 1930s the Roman 
Catholic Church had an ongoing mission “to combat fetishism and 
superstition,” and was fully backed by the Elie Lescott, then the 
president of Haiti, along with the government of the United States.18 
The presence of religious syncretism which itself was a result of the 
cultural mixing in the Atlantic world, was a way for Haitian slaves to 
retain a connection to their African roots.19 Where class hierarchies 

                                                           
13 Elizabeth A. McAlister, Rara!: Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and Its 

Diaspora (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002), 51. 
14 McAlister, 52. 
15  Susan Elizabeth Tselos, “Threads of Reflection: Costumes of Haitian Rara,” 

African Arts (USA) 29, no. 2 (Spring, 1996): 61. 
16 Michael D. Largey, Vodou Nation: Haitian Art Music and Cultural Nationalism 

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006), 194. 
17 Michael D. Largey, “Politics On the Pavement: Haitian Rara as a 

Traditionalizing Process,” 246. 
18 Kate Ramsey, “Without One Ritual Note: Folklore Performance and the Haitian 

State, 1935-1946,” Radical History Review 84 (Fall 2002): 23-24. 
19 Largey, Vodou Nation: Haitian Art Music and Cultural Nationalism, 76. 



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are correlative with racial structures the ideal that is strived for is 
Europeaness. Vodou’s roots in Africa and its embrace by lower 
classes is then an acceptance of their “Africaness,” serving as an 
affront to those in power. The Roman Catholic Church as a European 
religious institution positions itself as the savior of the masses, 
however, these masses continue to choose to hold on to their own 
spiritualties. 
 
 This offense by the poor, namely to enthusiastically accept 
Vodou into their lives, and even worse, to merge it with Christian 
symbols, serves as a way to undermine the Roman Catholic Church’s  
power within the country. By actively deciding for themselves their 
faith and how they choose to practice it, the poor of Haiti challenge 
traditionally powerful forces in their country. A festival such as Rara 
which incorporates two different religions undermines the singular 
hold that the Roman Catholic Church has on the Haitian people. 
Rara is “explicitly religious” as people patronize African deities, 
perform rituals, and pay homage to the dead.20 Nevertheless, 
according to McAlister, the outright religious purpose of Rara is not 
revealed for fear of antagonizing those in power.21 McAlister also 
claims that is through the bright colours and loud sounds of the 
festival that Rara’s religious core is kept hidden.22 A 1995 mural of 
Aristide, a former priest, shows him between “the rooster of Ogou 
and a beckoning Jesus,” reflecting the religious dichotomy of the 
Haitian people.23 As “Afro-Creole religious imagination is enveloped 
inside a Roman Catholic one,” the lower classes of Haiti assert 
certain aspects of their cultural identity in secret.24 By combining 
Vodou with Christian imagery and symbols, the poor insulate 
themselves from outright condemnation and instead they themselves 
function as cultural agents by shaping religion in Haiti. 
 
 The springtime festival of Rara in particular is a festive 
celebration by and for the people, with both the rural and the urban 
poor joining together to perform rituals and pilgrimages to sacred 
places amidst a relative freedom from usually oppressive 

                                                           
20 McAlister, 7. 
21 Ibid. 
22 Ibid. 
23 Karen McCarthy Brown, “Art and Resistance: Haiti's Political Murals, October 

1994,” African Arts 29, no. 2 (Spring, 1996): 57. 
24 McAlister, 11. 



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conditions.25 According to McAlister, the Rara celebration is one of 
the rare times when the lower classes of Haiti are free to congregate 
and travel in relative safety; Rara is then an actual physically safe 
place, or rather a safe time, for the poor.26 The revelry in the 
countryside combined with hidden Vodou religious undertones allow 
for a certain amount of freedom of speech and assembly.27 Rara is 
genuinely a cultural expression of the poor with the elite often hiding 
away, especially at night during loud celebrations; this unwittingly 
gives Rara celebrants an open avenue for expression.28 The actual 
activities of Rara such as the parades are an authentic declaration of 
cultural identity by the lower classes, with local bands festively 
competing against one another in drive-by performances throughout 
the countryside.29 In sum, festivals such as Rara allow for a time of 
relative physical and cultural freedom for Haiti’s poor. 
 
 Carnivals and festivals, while not traditionally thought to be 
powerful spaces for assertion by the oppressed, nevertheless play an 
important role in nations such as Haiti. When traditional places to 
voice one’s politics and culture are controlled by the wealthy elite 
and the well-connected, people are forced to look for other mediums 
of expression. Music, artwork, and performance pieces in Haitian 
Carnival provide a small avenue for political speech. Amongst loud 
music and the revelers, political thoughts are slyly expressed. 
However, the governments of the day are well aware of the power of 
this politicized space, and have done their best to instill their own 
political values in this arena.  
 

Politics is not the only sphere being challenged in such 
festivals however. Powerful cultural players such as the Roman 
Catholic Church are also confronted through the insertion of Vodou 
rituals and imagery in festivals such as Rara. Rara masks its central 
religious beliefs with widespread music and revelry and by 
incorporating Christian symbols into the festival. Though the Roman 
Catholic Church has attempted to eliminate Vodou from the hearts 
and minds of the Haitian people, Haitians have done their utmost to 
protect this part of their cultural identity by combining it with 
Christian themes as a way to insulate their persecuted beliefs. 

                                                           
25 McAlister, 3. 
26 McAlister, 4. 
27 McAlister, 7. 
28 Ibid. 
29 McAlister, 5. 



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Carnivals and festivals are a crucial means of declaring political and 
cultural thoughts and ideas by Haiti’s poor. They serve as a relatively 
safe place where they can state and celebrate their own beliefs, 
always of course, under the watchful gaze of elites. 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Works Cited 

Averill, Gage. A Day for the Hunter, a Day for the Prey: Popular Music 

and Power in Haiti. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. 

 

--- “Anraje to Angaje: Carnival Politics and Music in Haiti.” 

Ethnomusicology 38, no. 2 (Spring-Summer,  1994): 217-47. 

 

Brown, Karen McCarthy. “Art and Resistance: Haiti's Political Murals, 

October 1994.” African Arts 29, no. 2 (Spring, 1996): 46-57. 

 

Largey, Michael D. “Politics On the Pavement: Haitian Rara as a 

Traditionalizing Process.” Journal of American Folklore 113, no. 449 

(Summer 2000): 239-54. 

 

--- Vodou Nation: Haitian Art Music and Cultural Nationalism.  Chicago: 

University of Chicago Press, 2006. 

 

McAlister, Elizabeth A. Rara!: Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti 

and Its Diaspora. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. 

 

Ramsey, Kate. “Without One Ritual Note: Folklore Performance and the 

Haitian State, 1935-1946.” Radical History Review 84 (Fall 2002): 7-

42. 

 

Tselos, Susan Elizabeth. “Threads of Reflection: Costumes of Haitian 

Rara.” African Arts (USA) 29, no. 2  (Spring 1996): 58-65. 

 

 




