Santo Domingo: In Dominican Republic, Carnival is the most significant, lively, colorful and joyous expression of people living there.
The celebrations highlight centuries old cultural lifestyle in the region.
Every year, this traditional celebration has been commemorated in February.
It is said that each and every Dominican on the island has to take part in the celebration in one way or other.
It is believed that these cultural celebrations were earlier linked to certain religious festivals.
In 1795, the Carnival is said to have taken place on Saint’s day festival organized in honor of James the Apostle, Corpus Christi.
The Carnival is usually filled with with bright colored costumes that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world.
Between the years 1822 and 1844, costumes are said to have disappeared almost completely because of the Haitian occupation.
However, these costumes were returned back after the country secured independence on February 27, 1844.
The newly started cultural celebrations with costumes had no longer association with the church celebrations.
They started celebrating the occasion as actual Carnival during which they commemorate their independence day. This is how February became the Carnival month of Dominican Republic.
Each Sunday during the month of February, different cities carried out their own parades.
The La Vega Carnival is highly popular and has some special features.
The grand national Carnival parade along the city of Santo Domingo’s seaside was on the last Sunday of February.
Many people participated in the parades as this is a great way to get know about a region of the country.
Lots of people expressed the cultural features by dressing up as costumed characters.
Others made the occasion highly memorable by dancing with unique music and dancing skirts.
In the Santo Domingo carnival also there are awards and recognition from the Ministries of Culture and Tourism for the best costumes and groups performed in different categories.

Video on Dominican carnival 2015