One of the main events before the parades take place is the Tumba Festival. The Tumba Festival is a musical event where local composers, singers and bands from all over the island compete for the honor of having their song selected as the year's official Carnival road march Tumba song. The winner becomes King or Queen of Tumba.
The Tumba contest state that the lyrics used in the song have to do with carnival. Tumba is all about the celebration of carnival.
The Tumba’s background is from Africa and originates from an African derived rhythm, such as seu and tumbu. With the Caribbean influence it finally changed into a Dutch Antillean merenque, which we call Tumba. Tumba is considered as a music genre for the ABC islands and is mainly a part of Aruba’s culture.
There is also, a separate Children's Tumba Festival, This festival allows young singers to show their talent. The winning Tumba song becomes the road march song for the children’s carnival parade.
