History is said to be one of the major factors associated with the identity of a people. With this, one can safely say that if the historical events of the Caribbean had taken a different path, Carnival which is one of the most globally recognised aspects of Caribbean culture would not have be where it is today. We share a common experience which binds us together as a country, society, and people. Carnival is a cultural phenomenon that people use to express their selves and at the same time release all the negative energies that surrounds them. Trinidad’s Carnival is a perfect example of how people are united through this festival, for it is a time when people put aside all their differences and come together to celebrate life. ‘Mas’ is a significant part of carnival and is considered the highest form of human expressions. With this the mas man Peter Minshall was able to use his artistic skills to create mas that the participants of Carnival can use as a forum to express themselves. Minshall saw carnival as a form of theatre, where the persons who were on the stage had to create a performance, a performance that is not just merely for entertainment but rather to teach the audience something about who we are as a Caribbean people. Just like Calypso and Poetry, Minshall’s work can be considered the voice of the voiceless for he speaks on topical issues that affect our society, be it historical or political. What Minshall does with his mas is create an avenue for the viewers to engage in deep thought about who they are as a people, and in turn they tend to develop a better understanding and appreciation of themselves. This essay attempts to analyse the first of Minshall’s trilogy ‘River’, a mas that added a different dimension to the term ‘mas’ as we know it. The band demonstrated the moral seriousness that the art can address as it tells the story of the influence of technological advancement and industrial development on the lives of people. The river is an entity of nature that symbolises purification. It is a sign of ease, grace and fluidity; as expressed by its meandering form. Often times it is used to represent the calm beauty of nature. This purity that a river symbolises was transcended in Minshall’s mas ‘River’. Entering the streets of Port of Spain dressed in white was a fresh stream of water led by the purest of heart, the woman who uses the river as her means of survival the ‘Washer-woman’. This mas as simple as it may sound addresses a serious social problem where our society becomes tainted by the technological advancements of the times. It was a representation of the good and evils, that exist in our society, where ‘washer-woman’ in her purest state tries to protect the people of the river, however, Mancrab the symbol of destruction and greed,corrupts and pollutes the innocence of the people. The mas ‘River’ speaks of the people of our society, however, it is not restricted to only our Caribbean society but speaks to the universe. This story of