There's plenty of things to see and do on the way. T&T Carnival is the most significant event on the islands' cultural and tourism calendar
Each year on Dimanche Gras (Carnival Sunday), a competition is held to award the King and Queen of Carnival title to two of these masqueraders
he Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is celebrated two days before Ash Wednesday.\n\nCarnival in Trinidad and Tobago is perhaps the most significant event on the islands' cultural and tourism calendar, with numerous cultural events running in the lead up to the street parade on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. It is said that if the islanders are not celebrating it, then they are preparing for it, while reminiscing about the past year's festival. The heart of the musical celebration has been calypso; recently soca has replaced calypso as the most celebrated type of music. Costume, stickfighting and limbo competitions are also important components of the festival.
Today musical competitions make up a large part of formal Carnival; groups and individuals compete hard to win. To be named Calypso Monarch is one of the island's greatest honors, and the competition is aired on television. Along with the honor comes an enormous trophy, a car, TT $500,000 (approx. US $80,908.95) and possible endorsements and other contracts. Other prestigious titles are the King and Queen of the Bands (a competition of mammoth and elaborate costumes); the International Soca Monarch (both Groovy and Power); the Carnival Road March; and Panorama (for steelpan). For the latter, the 2007 prize was TT $1 million (US $161,817.91). There are also limbo, stickfighting, and other competitions.\n\nTraditionally, musicians use drums, claves, and the steelpan, created in Trinidad and reported to be the only non-electrical instrument invented in the 20th century, that has been hammered down in different areas to create a wide range of different notes. A group of performers practice weeks in advance on these pans to compete.\n\nTrinidad and Tobago is multicultural (African, Asian (south and east), Middle Eastern, European), and all of its groups have contributed musical influences to the sounds of Carnival. These cultures have combined to create a music vastly different from that of Carnival in Spain, Venice, or New Orleans.