Ontario Events and Festivals

6/01/2009 - 8/31/2009Caribana

Over a million people take to the streets to join the fun of this Trinidad-style carnival, the largest Caribbean festival in North America. The streets fill with the sights and sounds of the festivities, calypso and steel band music and the showpiece Caribana Parade itself. A large Caribbean population spends months preparing elaborate masquerade costumes to take part in the 1.5km (1 mile) procession of floats carrying live soca, reggae and salsa artists through the streets to the delight of huge crowds. Beyond the parade, the community celebrates its heritage and culture with a two-day Olympic Island Caribbean Arts Festival, a calypso competition, a Caribana king and queen pageant, parties, Caribbean food, outdoor concerts, music and dance. Since it began in 1967, Caribana has expanded to embrace the communities of Jamaica, Guyana, the Bahamas, Brazil and other cultures represented in Toronto.