The Toronto Caribbean Carnival, formerly known as Caribana, is a festival of
Caribbean culture and traditions held each summer in the city of
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada. It is a pan-Caribbean
Carnival event and has been billed as
North America's largest street festival, frequented by over 1.3 million visitors each year for the festival's final parade and an overall attendance of 2 million.
Beginning in July, the multi-week festivities lead up to the parade which occurs over the
Simcoe Day long weekend which occurs on the first weekend in August. The festival also coincides with August 1, which is also known as
Emancipation Day for
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and
Caribbean people starting in 1800. The main stakeholders of the events are the
Toronto Mas' Bands Association, the
Organization of Calypso Performing Artistes
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose.
The word is derived fr ...
, and the
Ontario Steelpan Association.
Events
Several events occur over the course of the festivities celebrating Caribbean culture. While the Parade of Bands is the most-well known festivities, events vary per year and in the past has included exhibits (for example the first Caribana displayed every book published by a Caribbean writer, including
Austin Clarke who was the centrepiece of the exhibition); theatre plays (such as Austin Clarke's "Children of the Scheme" which dealt with the plight of Caribbean women who came to Canada on the domestic immigrant worker scheme); and fashion shows.
Grand Parade
While the Caribbean Festival holds events over several weeks, the culmination of the Caribana event is the final weekend which is punctuated by the street Parade of Bands. This weekend traditionally coincides with the
civic holiday in August. The street Parade of Bands consists of costumed dancers (called "Mas players") along with live
Caribbean music
Caribbean music genres are very diverse. They are each synthesis of African, European, Arab, Asian, and Indigenous influences, largely created by descendants of African slaves (see Afro-Caribbean music), along with contributions from other comm ...
being played from large speakers on the flat-bed of 18 wheeler trucks. Much of the music associated with the event, such as
steel pan
The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists.
Descriptio ...
,
soca and
calypso. Floats can also be found which play
chutney
A chutney is a spread in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion or mint dipping sa ...
,
dancehall and
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
music.
The bands are the most important part of the main Carnival parade. Each band displays an artistic theme through costume-making. In competition with one another during the parade, they pass a judging spot which will rate each band section for its costume design, the energy of masqueraders, the creativity of presentation and so on. Work on the costumes begin soon after the previous year's celebration and usually takes one full year to complete all of the costumes. As of 2017,
Whitfield Belasco Whitfield may refer to:
Places Australia
* Whitfield, Queensland, a suburb of Cairns
* Whitfield, Victoria, an agricultural township
England
* Whitfield, Derbyshire, a hamlet and former parish
* Whitfield, Gloucestershire, a hamlet
* Whi ...
has led a band since his brother recruited him from the Trinidad Carnival to help organize the first Caribana in 1967.
Louis Saldenah Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis ...
has actively participated in Caribana since 1977 and has been awarded the Band of the Year twenty times. A King and Queen of the Band is also judged, and winning is considered claiming the biggest prize of the festival.
In the 1970s, the parade route originally followed Bloor and Yonge Streets ending at Toronto City Hall concluding with a concert at Nathan Phillips Square. In the 1980s, the parade ran along Bay and University Avenue. Since 1991, when the parade shifted to Lake Shore Boulevard into Exhibition Place, barricades were introduced to separate the spectators from those
playing mas
Play is a range of intrinsically motivated activities done for recreational pleasure and enjoyment. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but may be engaged in at any life stage, and among other higher-functio ...
. In 1993, the Caribana Marketplace covered market was added at
Marilyn Bell Park along the parade route.
In May 2010, the festival added a new initiative to involve post-secondary schools. The only college to participate was
Centennial College School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culture, where they created a costume theme of the Tropical Amazon.
King and Queen Showcase
The night before the grande parade, all the kings and queens (leaders) of the bands compete on stage at
Lamport Stadium
Allan A. Lamport Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium on King Street West in the Liberty Village neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the practice facility for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. It is also partia ...
to be named King and Queen of Carnival.
Joella Crichton has been awarded Queen of the Carnival nine times and was subject of "Becoming a Queen" a ninety minute documentary which screened at the
CaribbeanTales International Film Festival The CaribbeanTales International Film Festival is an annual film festival, staged in Toronto, Ontario. The festival programs a lineup of films from Caribbean countries, as well as films from the Caribbean diaspora in Canada.
The festival was launch ...
.
Calypso Monarch
Started in 1980, this judged event crowns a Calypso Monarch for the year.
J'ouvert
In addition to the main parade, the Caribbean community also celebrates a smaller pre-dawn parade known as
J'ouvert
J'ouvert ( ) or Jour ouvert is a traditional festival known as "break day" or the unofficial start of Carnival, which takes place on the Monday before Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christi ...
(Pronounced "Jou-vay"). This too has been modelled after and taken from Caribbean festivals, such as the most popular Spice Mas of
Grenada and
Trinidad Carnival. In Caribbean French-creole this means "day open" or morning. The J'ouvert portion of Carnival is the more rhythmic part of the Carnival celebration and is usually featured with
steelpan
The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists.
Descriptio ...
bands, and persons using improvised musical instruments. It is not usually accompanied by any singing but will have a lot of whistles and other music makers. Spectators and or persons "playing Mas" will occasionally get themselves covered from head-to-toe with mud, flour, baby powder, or different water-colored paints in the tradition of the Caribbean-based J'ouvert celebrations. In many instances, everyone in the band is supposed to resemble evil spirits while parading around at night. There are some common characters that are a part of Afro-Caribbean folklore and include things like Red Devils (people covered in red paints), Blue Devils (people covered in blue paints), Green devils, Black devils ( Jab Jab -traditionally portrayed in the Island of Grenada), Yellow devils, White devils, (usually people throwing baby powder or flour.) or people just covered in other concoctions which are supposed to resemble mud or oil.
Other events
* Junior Carnival Parade: The junior carnival (commonly known as Kiddie Carnival) has run since, at least, the 1990s and provides an opportunity for young masquerades to dance through the streets. Similar to the grand parade, the junior carnival consists of a series of bands with leaders who display costumes in competition.
* Junior King and Queen Showcase: This was introduced in 2017 to allow the Younger kids to showcase Jr King and Queen's at Malvern Town Centre before the Jr Grand Parade & Family Day.
* Fêtes (parties): Leading up to the main parade a number of Caribbean music artists perform in Toronto. These parties are generally called "
fêtes", for a French-Creole Caribbean word meaning "festival", and usually start in June/July.
* Jump-ups (dances)
* Picnics (Food Fest): Originally taking place on the
Toronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the ...
, the island picnics now occur at
Ontario Place
Ontario Place is an entertainment venue, event venue, and park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The venue is located on three artificial landscaped islands just off-shore in Lake Ontario, south of Exhibition Place, and southwest of Downtown Toronto. ...
. Picnics are two days of feasting on
rotis,
jerk chicken
Jerk, The Jerk, Jerks, or Jerking may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film, stage, and television
* ''Jerk'' (play), a 2008 puppet play by Dennis Cooper
* ''Jerk'' (TV series), a 2019 British sitcom
* ''The Jerk'', a 1979 American film
* "Jerk ...
and
festival
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...
,
callaloo
Callaloo (many spelling variants, such as kallaloo, calaloo, calalloo, calaloux or callalloo; ) is a popular Caribbean vegetable dish. There are many variants across the Caribbean, depending on the availability of local vegetables. The main in ...
, goat head soup,
potato pudding,
pelau
Pelau is a traditional rice dish of the West Indies ( Guadeloupe, Dominica and Caribbean countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines). Main ingredients are meat (usually chicken or beef, rice, pig ...
, fried fish, cow foot,
rum cakes; drinking sorrell, Mauby, and
ginger beer
Traditional ginger beer is a sweetened and carbonated, usually non-alcoholic beverage. Historically it was produced by the natural fermentation of prepared ginger spice, yeast and sugar.
Current ginger beers are often manufactured rather than ...
; and dancing to music.
* Calypso tents (shows)
* Talk tents: Talk tents contain shows featuring storytellers, comedians and others well versed in oral traditions.
* Gala (Carnival Ball): The gala, debuted in 2008, is an evening of elegance celebrating Carnival music, arts, and the works of the pioneers of the Caribana festival.
* Pan blockos/blockorama (steel band street parties)
History
Origins
![Caribana (3820807793)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Caribana_%283820807793%29.jpg)
Caribana has been run annually since 1967, first performed as a gift from Canada's Caribbean community, as a tribute to
Canada's Centennial. Billing itself as a multicultural nation, the Canadian government invited ethno-cultural groups to contribute celebrations with representations of their ethnic diversity. Caribana emerged during a time when many Caribbean residents emigrated to Canada following immigration reform, internationally acclaimed singers were popularizing Caribbean music (for example
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
sang to a sold-out crowd at the
O'Keefe Centre in Toronto),
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
activities including the Canadian visits by
Malcolm X
Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of I ...
and
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, and
Muhammad Ali's fight against the Canadian heavyweight champion
George Chuvalo
George Louis Chuvalo, CM (born September 12, 1937 as Jure Čuvalo) is a Canadian former professional boxer who was a five-time Canadian heavyweight champion and two-time world heavyweight title challenger. He is known for having never been kno ...
.
Introduced by immigrants from the
Caribbean, Caribana is multiple cultures, tradtions from same heritage background coming together to celebrate their heritage ties. Afro-Caribbeana person of African descent born or living in a Caribbean nation. Caribana's roots has links to slavery and the struggle for emancipation, as well as post-colonial pan-Caribbean influence of the 1960s.
Following the carnival format, particularly that of the
Trinidad and Tobago Carnival
The Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an annual event held on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in Trinidad and Tobago. This event is well known for participants' colorful costumes and exuberant celebrations. There are numerous cultural e ...
, Caribana's Caribbean influences include traditions from many of the islands:
John Canoe
John Canoe, also known as January Conny, (died circa 1725) was the European name given to an Akan warrior from Axim, Ghana.
He was a chief of the Ahanta people in the early 18th century, who established a stronghold in the defunct Fort Frederick ...
in Jamaica,
Crop Over
Crop Over is a traditional harvest festival which began in Barbados, having had its early beginnings on the sugar cane plantations during slavery.
History
The original crop-over tradition began in 1687 as a way to mark the end of the yearly harves ...
in Barbados, and other similar festivals in Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
Caribana also taps into the legacy of the pre-Lenten Calypso Carnival celebrations organized by the
Canadian Negro Women's Organization
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
(CANEWA) and headed by
Kay Livingstone.
From 1952 to 1964, CANEWA produced, funded, and hosted these annual one-day celebrations of Caribbean culture through food, dance, and music as fundraisers for scholarships to assist Black students to attend recently desegregated schools in southern Ontario.
The centuries-long
Black Canadian tradition of
Emancipation Day parades are also an influence on Caribana.
Emancipation Day Parades began to celebrate the liberation of the enslaved throughout the Americas and were largely observed around the same time as the Calypso Carnivals. The founders of this parade were largely descendants of fugitive slaves and other Black American immigrants. The parades were marked as a Black victory over the British and operated as a military-style event, displaying military regalia, marching bands, and drum corps. Emancipation Day Parades became the most notable displays by and for Black Canadians prior to Caribana.
[Phillip, Lyndon. “Reading Caribana 1997: Black Youth, Puff Daddy, Style, and Diaspora Transformations” 2007.]
The founding organizers' goal of using festival profits to create a Black community centre remain unfulfilled.
Administrative history
In 1967, ten individuals formed the Caribbean Centennial Committee (CCC).
Its board members mostly made up of expatriate-Caribbean nationals living in Canada.
Charles Roach and
Julius Alexander Isaac (the first Black judge of the Federal Court of Appeal) were among the community leaders who organized the first Caribana.
The CCC changed its name to the Caribbean Committee for Cultural Advancement (CCCA) in 1968 and Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC) in 1969.
As the festival became a permanent annual event, the festival organization became dependent on borrowing money from the City of Toronto prior to the festival, to be repaid out of festival profits (if any) afterwards. By 1992, the festival had built up a debt to the City. The City of Toronto forgave the entire outstanding debt after the 1992 event.
The same year, Caribana developed a new partnership with Toronto-area hotels. In 1993, the organization fired its operating chief.
Following
Puff Daddy's performance in 1997, many observers raised concerns regarding cultural retention and festival organizers' moral-cultural responsibility. At launch in
Nathan Phillips Square
Nathan Phillips Square is an urban plaza in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or ''New City Hall'', at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and is named for Nathan Phillips, mayor of Tor ...
, Premier
Bob Rae calls the event a "beacon of hope" for all Canadians, as a symbol of racial harmony. "Carry a Can to Caribana" launched, in support of
Daily Bread Food Bank
The Daily Bread Food Bank (DBFB) is a non-denominational Canadian charity organisation that strives to end hunger in urban communities. The organisation is based in Toronto, Ontario, and feeds thousands of low-income people a year. They also provi ...
. With attendance down, the board chair blamed the federal and provincial tourism ministries for not funding their American advertising campaign.
In September 2004, after the 37th festival, the
consul general
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
of Trinidad and Tobago worked with Caribbean Cultural Committee to increase support from the business community; the committee received around that year from the national, provincial, and city governments, but it cost about twice that to run the festival. In 2006, the Caribbean Cultural Committee ran into financial troubles again and the
City of Toronto government
The municipal government of Toronto ( incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city of Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its structure and powers are set out in the '' City of Tor ...
funding was given to the Toronto Mas Band Association which had organized the festival in 2002. Due to an ongoing dispute about the ownership of the trademark "Caribana," the 2006 festival was promoted as "the Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana)".On September 1, 2010, new management took over the Festival Management Committee (FMC).
In 2019 UNESCO the Canadian Commission officially recognizes the festival and names as a Cultural heritage property.
Naming
The name Caribana was invented by the organizers to capture the notions of Canada, the Caribbean, bacchanal and merrymaking.
A naming dispute arose over the use of "Caribana." The Caribbean Cultural Committee claimed that it legally held the
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...
for "Caribana". In April 2010, a panel for the
World Intellectual Property Organization
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishi ...
(WIPO) ruled that Scotiabank, as the sponsors of the Caribana festival, did not have grounds for being awarded the domain name caribana.com from its current owners the Working Word Co-operative. In 2011, the Ontario Superior Court Of Justice ruled that the Caribana Arts Group (CAG), the successors of Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC), has legal rights to the name Caribana.
Sponsorship
The first named festival sponsor was
Scotiabank (''Scotiabank Caribana'' from 2007 to 2011 and ''Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival'' from 2011 to 2015). In October 2015, Scotiabank announced that it would end its sponsorship with Toronto's Caribbean Carnival parade after six years.
The festival continued without a naming sponsor until 2017, when Peeks became the new title sponsor and the festival became the Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival.
["Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2017"](_blank)
News Release, Ontario Science Centre, June 1, 2017. In June 2019, Peeks' title sponsorship was removed and the festival was called the Toronto Caribbean Carnival for 2019.
COVID-19 alternative formats
The 2020 and 2021 editions of the event were cancelled because of the global
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
; consequently, it took place in a "virtual format" on July 3, 2020. In order to accommodate restrictions during the pandemic during the summer of 2021, the festival pivoted to a foodie event with steel pans and masqueraders and replaced the grande parade with a food truck festival.
Economics and impact
The entire event, which is one of the first
Caribbean Carnival
Caribbean Carnival is the term used in the English speaking world for a series of events, held annually throughout almost the whole year in many Caribbean islands and worldwide.
The Caribbean's carnivals have several common themes, all originati ...
s along with those in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
,
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Ma ...
and
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
to be held outside of the Caribbean region. Economic studies estimates that the festival contributes approximately $400 million into Ontario's economy each year with the Federal Government being the largest beneficiary.
The participation demographics of over 1.2 million attendees indicates that 58% of attendees are from outside the
Greater Toronto Area and over one million individuals from the United States.
Approximately 72% of participants have previously attended Caribana.
See also
*
Carifiesta
*
List of festivals in Canada
*
List of festivals in Ontario
*
List of festivals in Toronto
References
External links
*
Toronto Caribbean Carnival virtual timeline an interactive and collaborative history project
Caribana's golden anniversary: an archival research guideby the
Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections
Clara Thomas (née McCandless; May 22, 1919 – September 26, 2013) was a Canadian academic. A longtime professor of English at York University, she was one of the first academics to devote her work specifically to the study of Canadian literatur ...
,
York University Libraries
York University Libraries (YUL) is the library system of York University in Toronto, Ontario. The four main libraries and one archives contain more than 2,500,000 volumes.
History
The first York library opened in 1961 at Glendon College and ...
{{Carnival around the world
Afro-Caribbean culture in Canada
Black Canadian culture in Toronto
Caribbean-Canadian culture in Ontario
Music festivals in Toronto
Parades in Canada
Recurring events established in 1967
Annual events in Toronto
Carnivals in Canada
August events
Parades in Toronto
July events
1967 establishments in Ontario
Festivals of Caribbean culture abroad
Black Canadian organizations