Canboulay Restaurant and Lounge

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Canboulay (from the French, Cannes Brulees, meaning burnt cane) is the precursor to Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. The festival is also where calypso music has its roots. It was originally a harvest festival, at which drums, singing, dancing and chanting were an integral part. After Emancipation (1838), it developed into an outlet and a festival for former slaves who were banned from participating in the masquerade carnival events, derived from European Christian traditions, of the colonial elite and whose drums and religious observations were also outlawed in the late 19th century. Consequently, Canboulay has played an important role in the development of the music in Trinidad and Tobago, for it was the banning of the percussion instruments in the 1880’s that led to the surreptitious innovations that gave birth to the steel pan music and it is re-enacted in Port of Spain each Carnival Friday.


The Canboulay Riots were riots by the descendants of freed slaves in the cities of Trinidad and Tobago against attempts by the British police to crack down on aspects of the celebration of Carnival. The riots occurred in February 1881 in Port of Spain, the capital and in the southern cities of San Fernando and Princes Town in February 1884 causing loss of life. The riots are still commemorated today and canboulay music is an important part of the music of Trinidad and Tobago notably the use of steel pans which were the descendants of the percussion instruments banned in the 1880’s. The “chantwell” or chantuelle who was also an integral part of the celebrations was the forerunner for the calypsonian and later soca music.