With the years the costume festival became more and more famous in Italy and the practice spread to France, Spain, and Portugal.
As the Spanish, Portuguese and French began to colonize other parts of the world, including the Caribbean, they also brought with them their tradition and costumes of celebrating carnaval / carnival as the festivities are nowadays called.
African and Other Influences
From the date when Columbus first set foot on Caribbean soil till early nineteenth century some six million Africans had been brought to the Americas to work as slaves in mines and especially on plantations.The Africans brought with them their traditions of parading and dancing through villages in costumes and masks. African dance and music also had a huge influence on carnival celebrations in the Americas.
In the Caribbean many traditions and cultures came together as indentured workers from Asiatic lands were transported to the region, bringing their tradition of celebrating street festivals.
