zambo in tripoli – lebanon’s mardi gras on the med
Last Updated : GMT 09:03:51
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today
Last Updated : GMT 09:03:51
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today

Zambo in Tripoli – Lebanon’s Mardi Gras on the Med

Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today

Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Zambo in Tripoli – Lebanon’s Mardi Gras on the Med

Zambo participants march through the streets
Tripoli, Lebanon - Arab Today

In an alley in the conservative Lebanese city of Tripoli, it’s just before 10 in the morning as men painted head to toe in black and gold and dressed only in hula skirts swig from bottles. One young man smokes a cigarette through his Guy Fawkes mask while another prances about with a fake severed head.
You might want to call it Mardi Gras on the Med, but people here call it Zambo.
Every year, Greek Orthodox Christian residents of Tripoli’s seaside Mina district take to the streets in costumes and paint to celebrate Zambo on the Sunday before Lent and its 40 days of fasting and penance.
Pre-Lent festivals are celebrated across the world, with ornate processions like New Orleans’ Mardi Gras, Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval and the Carnival of Venice enjoying widespread fame.
Tripoli’s much smaller Zambo festival has strong traces of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval and Caribbean Carnival celebrations. But it is an anomaly, existing all by itself far from any of the world’s other carnivals. There is nothing like it in the Arab world – or perhaps the whole world – and nobody is really sure how it got here.
Zambo’s hedonistic celebration is even more surprising given that Tripoli is not exactly a city known for its tolerance. A few years ago, you could easily buy ISIL flags from shops downtown.
It is a city that fed Sunni fighters into Syria’s civil war, with many joining hardline and extremist factions. To many, Tripoli is known more for processions of masked men clutching automatic rifles in their hands, not the public consumption of alcohol that is seen during Zambo.
How Zambo arrived in Tripoli is uncertain and everybody seems to have their own story.
It came from Greece and Brazil over 100 years ago, Zambo organiser Beshara Hassan told The National.
Participant Joseph Bahi, 38, said Zambo was influenced by Brazil, but that its roots and sometimes scary costumes went back to the advent of Christianity, when Christians in what is today Lebanon had to appear fearsome to escape persecution and spread the word of Lent’s arrival.
Alberto Rouhana, 25, traced it back to pagan times. "It passed from old religions to Christianity," he said. "Like when people were worshipping the sun."
Others believe that Zambo as it exists today was influenced by African troops serving in Lebanon when it was controlled by France, or that it is tied to exorcism or cleansing of the city and its people.
What everyone agrees on is that Zambo is celebrated every year, that anybody who wants to can join in, and that the theme is always "African" – which somehow includes, beyond the body paint, a proliferation of Native American headdresses, hula skirts and ghoul masks.
For hours on Sunday, hundreds of painted participants wove and danced their way through the alleys of Tripoli’s Mina district, beating drums and chanting "Zambo! Zambo!"
Bodies pushed against one another in the procession, as those in more frightening costumes tried to scare onlookers by jumping and hollering. When the procession ended in the early afternoon, men jumped into the cold Mediterranean to wash off their body paint with dishwashing liquid.
Tripoli is a city usually known for its divisions. Between 2011 and 2014, Alawite and Sunni militias fought battles along a war-scarred front line. For the most hardline militants, Tripoli was a city for Sunnis only.
But while a lot of things divide Tripoli, Zambo unites them. While it is primarily a realm of the city’s small Greek Orthodox community, Christians of other denominations and even Muslim residents join in.
The Mina district managed to avoid the chronic unrest that plagued much of the city in recent years, existing, like Zambo, as an anomaly.
At times when shops in the rest of the city were shuttered and masked fighters roamed the streets, Mina often remained an oasis of calm with life continuing relatively unaffected. Zambo celebrations have been held here every single year since the 1980s, when violence in the city last forced the cancellation of the festival.
"In this city, we all live together. Before you look at other peoples’ religion, you have to look at them as human beings," said a middle-aged Muslim man who gave his name as Sindibad, as he dried off from washing paint from his body. "In my opinion, this is not for Christians, it is for everyone. It has gone on for a long time, before Islam."

Source: The National

almaghribtoday
almaghribtoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

zambo in tripoli – lebanon’s mardi gras on the med zambo in tripoli – lebanon’s mardi gras on the med

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

zambo in tripoli – lebanon’s mardi gras on the med zambo in tripoli – lebanon’s mardi gras on the med

 



Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Skincare PR Performance Full Year 2017

GMT 09:22 2018 Monday ,22 January

Skincare PR Performance Full Year 2017
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today New hunt for flight MH370 gets under way

GMT 11:03 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

New hunt for flight MH370 gets under way
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Modern colorful bedroom renovation

GMT 10:57 2017 Thursday ,21 December

Modern colorful bedroom renovation
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Puigdemont candidate for Catalan president

GMT 13:56 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Puigdemont candidate for Catalan president
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Turkey detains dozens more

GMT 10:47 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

Turkey detains dozens more
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today The Rake announces editorial updates

GMT 10:46 2018 Tuesday ,16 January

The Rake announces editorial updates
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Europe brings on charm and blue skies

GMT 11:51 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Europe brings on charm and blue skies
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today For the Variety of Interior Design Styles

GMT 10:46 2017 Tuesday ,19 December

For the Variety of Interior Design Styles
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today US Christian tourists see deep meaning

GMT 13:44 2018 Monday ,22 January

US Christian tourists see deep meaning
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Amazon to open first cashierless shop

GMT 10:03 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Amazon to open first cashierless shop

GMT 12:50 2017 Friday ,15 September

Fati Jamali received offer to participate

GMT 11:50 2017 Friday ,08 September

Ragheb does not intend to participate in drama

GMT 09:45 2018 Friday ,19 January

Syria threatens to 'destroy' Turkish warplanes

GMT 14:54 2018 Sunday ,07 January

Monfils predicts 'tough' Australian Open

GMT 12:13 2017 Thursday ,24 August

Qamar praises reactions to “Kiss My Lips”

GMT 20:38 2012 Thursday ,08 November

Iraq needs $1 trillion to rebuild

GMT 19:53 2016 Thursday ,13 October

Study: Egypt 'first date fruit producer' in world

GMT 13:33 2016 Thursday ,25 August

European equities slide in choppy trade

GMT 16:06 2011 Monday ,01 August

England lucky as France draw Spain

GMT 11:23 2012 Thursday ,02 February

Facebook files for highly anticipated IPO

GMT 22:19 2017 Thursday ,17 August

Opening of border to Qatari pilgrims welcomed

GMT 10:06 2017 Tuesday ,17 October

Cuba has duty to prevent attacks on US envoys: Trump

GMT 08:19 2017 Friday ,14 April

Nelly Karim in Luxor to stimulate tourism

GMT 09:28 2012 Thursday ,19 April

AD Sports to air UAE football in HD, surround sound

GMT 13:45 2017 Sunday ,30 April

Shraddha Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor in Dubai

GMT 20:13 2017 Wednesday ,27 September

Kuwait’s economic measures provided

GMT 22:30 2017 Friday ,29 September

Official underlines economic improvement

GMT 11:05 2017 Wednesday ,27 December

British navy frigate escorts Russian warship in North Sea
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today
 
 Almaghrib Today Facebook,almaghrib today facebook  Almaghrib Today Twitter,almaghrib today twitter Almaghrib Today Rss,almaghrib today rss  Almaghrib Today Youtube,almaghrib today youtube  Almaghrib Today Youtube,almaghrib today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

.almaghribtoday .almaghribtoday .almaghribtoday .almaghribtoday
almaghribtoday almaghribtoday almaghribtoday
almaghribtoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
almaghribtoday, Almaghribtoday, Almaghribtoday