Carnaval des fleurs (Flowers Carnival)

In Haiti, Carnival is by far the most important party/celebration of the year way ahead of Christmas. While traditional carnival always takes place in February and countrywide, the capital Port au Prince has a second one, called Flowers Carnival and organized in summer.

Reborn in 2012 after 30 years of abandon, the carnival saw this year more than 15,000 people dressed up and close to a million people attending the 3 days event.
Originally symbol of Jean Claude “BB Doc” Duvalier presidency, the event is today marketed as tourism promotion.

It is actually during summer time that most Haitians from abroad come back to the island to visit their families. By organizing an extra carnival in the middle of the summer, a chance is so given to Haitian from abroad to celebrate with their fellow citizens.

According to officials around 1500 extra tourists/visitors arrived daily at Toussaint Louverture airport the week before the event.
Hotels and restaurant also confirmed a peak in their frequentations while local informal economy did benefit as well from these 3 days.

Unlike last year no major incident has been reported and plans for next year are already discussed. A delegation from Brazil also took part in the event as observer in order to identify what could be improved in the future and so slowly make Flower Carnival as important as February one!


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