The island of St. Martin is split between French and Dutch control. The Carnival on the French side takes place at the traditional time of just before Lent.  

Sint Maarten bills its Carnival as the biggest and best carnival in the North Eastern Caribbean. The carnival starts in mid-April and runs until early May. 

The festivities started out as an initiative to celebrate the various holidays of the island. The first Carnival took place in 1969. It used to be held on November 11th, St. Maarten’s Day, but it was moved to April in the 1970s, with Queen Juliana’s birthday chosen as an appropriate date. 

Like a lot of other Caribbean carnivals, it relied on local business support in the early days but has continued to grow over the years in popularity, scale and duration.