Pan in the Park at Lafayette Square - Free Event

Cambridge Carnival International is a colorful and festive celebration that is rooted in African traditions. Carnival secretly allowed public communication and cultural bonding for the Afro-Caribbean cultures from as far back as the 1600s.

The festival, now a Cambridge institution, attracts thousands of people and is the largest festival in Cambridge. The highlight of the festival is a grand costume parade accompanied by rich rhythmic musicality promoting all types of cultures that can be seen as revelers masquerade through the streets of Cambridge in dazzling handmade costumes, dancing to the beat of Carnival.

Cambridge Carnival is the most unique event in the City of Cambridge. It is planned entirely by the community for the community. The organizing committee works hard year-round to plan an event that is inclusive, engaging, and reflective of the city’s diversity. The event is organized by a non-profit volunteer community organization made up of a diverse group of individuals. Members of the group either live and work in Cambridge or run local businesses and have a desire to promote, preserve and share the history and culture of the Caribbean and Carnival traditions based on the models of Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil. The festival is a vehicle to bring together Cambridge’s diverse community for a spectacular annual costume parade and celebration.