Christians Celebrate the "Zambo" Carnival in the North Lebanon Sunni Stronghold City of Tripoli

Following is an excerpt from a report on the Zambo carnival in Tripoli, Lebanon, which aired on Al-Baghdadiya TV on March 20, 2008:

Reporter: People in the northern Lebanese coastal city of Tripoli marked the beginning of Great Lent, which precedes Easter, by celebrating what is known as the annual Zambo carnival. The people celebrating painted their bodies black, silver, gold, and other colors. They wore clothes similar to those worn by Latin American natives. They paraded through the streets of the city, singing and dancing. The local residents say that the Zambo is an ancient Brazilian carnival, which was imported to Lebanon in recent decades by Lebanese who emigrated to South America. It is an imitation of the Rio carnival. Brazil has the largest community of Lebanese immigrants in South America. Tripoli has celebrated Zambo for more than 20 years. Children and adults dance in the streets near the port – the most ancient neighborhood in the city – collecting donations to help the poor at the beginning of the fast. The locals say that the carnival goes back to the 1930s, but the celebrations were stopped for several years during the Lebanese civil war, which lasted from 1975 to 1990. The carnival was renewed in 1985, and since then, it has continued uninterrupted. When celebrators have had enough dancing and singing in the streets of Tripoli, they traditionally wash their painted bodies in the sea, and then proceed with a large feast.