I'm leaving for Guyana August 8th. Each weekday, I'll post some information about the country.
Mashramani
A Mashramani parade (source)
If for some reason you hear someone talking about Mashramani, just substitute "Carnival" in its place. Mashramani, or "Mash," is an Amerindian word meaning "the celebration of a job well done." Mashramani is usually celebrated on February 23rd, Guyanese Republic Day. According to Wikipedia, a decision was made to rename prior Republic Day carnival celebrations with an Amerindian name. Some upstanding Amerindian gentleman's grandfather suggested that the Amerindian Festival celebrating a special event was like "Muster Many," or Mashirimehi in Amerindian, and sounded in Arawak like Mashramani. And so the magic was born. The first official Mashramani was celebrated on February 23rd, 1970 in Linden.
Beyond this information, Wikipedia is unhelpful, so the reader is left to draw their own conclusions. My take is that it's probably pretty similar to Brazilian Carnival, New Orleans Mardi Gras, etc. I'll do my best to report back in the aftermath.
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