Haiti works to the motto you can never have too many carnivals

Last year’s Carnaval des Fleurs

The Carnaval des Fleurs has brought Port au Prince pretty much on to the streets for the next couple of days and it is a riotous re-affirmation of change and hope.

And a rather canny one too. Though contentious, President Martelly’s decision to resurrect Le Carnaval des Fleurs in the capital and take the main one on tour was sound. It decentralized some of the fun, compensated Port au Prince with a fixed focus for its cultural calendar and allows Haiti to boast that it organizes two carnivals a year, not just the one.

So the Martelly government organized its first big carnival in Les Cayes in the south in 2012, the second in Cap-Haitien in the north and the third in Gonaives in the Artibonite region.

Though Port au Prince was in a bit of a sulk about this last year, it seems to have recovered its spirits with the Carnaval des Fleurs.