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{{Infobox organization
{{Infobox organization
|name = Toronto Caribbean Carnival
|name = Toronto Caribbean Carnival
|image = TCC2019-.png
|image = Toronto_Carnival_Logo.png
|image_border =
|image_border =
|size =
|size =
|caption =
|caption =
|
|map =
|msize =
|mcaption =
|mcaption =
|abbreviation = TCC<ref>{{cite web |url=http://torontocarnival.ca/ |publisher=Toronto Caribbean Carnival |title=Toronto Caribbean Festival}}</ref>
|abbreviation = TCC<ref>{{cite web |url=http://torontocarnival.ca/ |publisher=Toronto Caribbean Carnival |title=Toronto Caribbean Festival}}</ref>
Line 18: Line 17:
|purpose = Celebration of Caribbean heritage
|purpose = Celebration of Caribbean heritage
|headquarters = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada
|headquarters = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada
|location = 19 Waterman Avenue Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario
|location = 716 Gordon Baker Rd. Suite 201, Toronto, Ontario
|region_served =
|region_served =
|membership =
|membership =
|language = [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]]
|language = [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]]
|leader_title = Chief Executive Officer
|leader_title = CEO of Festival Management Committee - Producers of Toronto Carnival
|leader_name = Mischka Crichton
|leader_name = Vacant - Former ANEESA OUMARALLY (August 2019- August 31,2020). (Outgoing)
|main_organ = Festival Management Corporation
|parent_organization = Festival Management Committee
|parent_organization = Festival Management Committee
|affiliations = [[City of Toronto government]], Toronto Mas Bands Association [https://web.archive.org/web/20120622084107/http://www.torontomasbands.com/], Ontario Steelpan Association
|affiliations = [[City of Toronto government]], [[Toronto Mas Bands Association]], [[Ontario Steelpan Association]] (OSA), [[Organization of Calypso Performing Artists]] (OCPA)
|num_staff = 12
|num_staff = 12
|num_volunteers = 1,000+
|num_volunteers = 1,000+
|budget = {{CAD|1.2 million}}
|budget = {{CAD|3.33 million}}
|website =[https://torontocarnival.ca/ torontocarnival.ca]
|website =[http://torontocarnival.ca/ torontocarnival.ca]
|remarks =
|remarks =
}}
}}


The '''Toronto Caribbean Carnival''', formerly and previously called '''Caribana''' (1967-2006), Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana) (2006-2007), '''Scotiabank Caribana''' (2007-2011), '''Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival''' (2011-2015), ''Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival'' (2017-2018) ''' Toronto Caribbean Carnival ''' (2018–present) is a festival of [[Caribbean]] culture and traditions held each summer in the city of [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada. It is a Caribbean [[Carnival]] event, that has been billed as [[North America]]'s largest street festival,<ref>[https://rove.me/to/toronto/toronto-caribbean-carnival-or-caribana Toronto Caribbean Carnival or Caribana]</ref> frequented by over 1.3 million visitors each year for the festival's final parade and an overall attendance of 2 million.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Caribana, the greatest celebration|last=1954-|first=Foster, Cecil|date=1995|publisher=Ballantine Books|others=Schwarz, Chris, 1948–2007.|isbn=0345398165|edition=Souvenir|location=Toronto|oclc=32391351}}</ref> The entire event, which is one of the first [[Caribbean Carnival]]s along with those in [[Labor Day Carnival|New York City]], [[Notting Hill Carnival|Notting Hill]] and [[Boston]] to be held outside of the Caribbean region, brings in over one million U.S. citizens to Toronto and over $400 million into Ontario's economy, annually.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/803506|title=The Caribana success story|work=[[Toronto Star]]|date=May 3, 2010|access-date=June 1, 2010}}</ref>
The '''Toronto Caribbean Carnival''', formerly and affectionately known as '''Caribana''', is a festival of [[Caribbean]] culture and traditions held each summer in the city of [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada. It is a pan-Caribbean [[Carnival]] event and has been billed as [[North America]]'s largest Festival,<ref>[https://rove.me/to/toronto/toronto-caribbean-carnival-or-caribana Toronto Caribbean Carnival or Caribana]</ref> frequented by over 1.3 million tourists each year for the festival's Grand Parade and an overall attendance of 2.3 million.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Caribana, the greatest celebration|last1=Foster|first1=Cecil|date=1995|publisher=Ballantine Books|last2=Schwarz|first2=Chris|isbn=0345398165|edition=Souvenir|location=Toronto|oclc=32391351}}</ref>


Beginning in July, the multi-week festivities lead up to the parade which occurs over the [[Simcoe Day]] long weekend, the first weekend in August. The festival also coincides with August 1 [[Emancipation Day]] observances that commemorate the [[African slave trade#Abolition|emancipation of slaves of African descent]]. The main stakeholders of the events are the Toronto Mas' Bands Association, the Organization of Calypso Performing Artistes, and the Ontario Steelpan Association.
The 2020 in-person events (like many other carnival events worldwide) were cancelled because of the global [[COVID-19 pandemic]];<ref>{{cite web |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/6798653/toronto-caribbean-carnival-2020-cancelled-coronavirus-covid19/ |title=Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2020 cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic |date=9 April 2020 |publisher=Global News |access-date=16 April 2020 }}</ref> consequently, it took place in a "virtual format" starting on July 3, 2020.


==Events==
== Cultural significance ==
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 [https://www.caribana.com/ Caribana] displayed every book published by a Caribbean writer, including [[Austin Clarke (novelist)|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'''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Trip|first=Culture|date=2016-06-01|title=A Brief History Of Toronto's Caribana Festival|url=https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/canada/articles/a-brief-history-of-torontos-caribana-festival/|access-date=2022-02-16|website=Culture Trip}}</ref>
The festival was introduced to Canada by immigrants from the [[Caribbean]]. It follows a Carnival format, particularly following the [[Trinidad and Tobago Carnival]], but also influenced by the street dancing and masquerading in costume found on every Caribbean island such as [[John Canoe]] in Jamaica, [[Crop Over]] in Barbados, and other similar festivals in Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. The Carnival participants say that this event is very important for preserving and expressing their Caribbean identity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.macleans.ca/society/why-torontos-caribbean-carnival-is-still-important-50-years-later/ |title=Why Toronto's Caribbean Carnival is still important 50 years later |publisher=Maclean's |access-date=July 9, 2018}}</ref>


===Grand Parade===
A commonality between these cultural events is a cultural legacy that is born out of slavery.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://spacing.ca/toronto/2017/07/31/caribana-meaning-ordered-chaos/|title=Caribana and the meaning of ordered chaos - Spacing Toronto|date=2017-07-31|work=Spacing Toronto|access-date=2018-03-11|language=en-US}}</ref> Caribana also taps into the legacy of the [[Canadian Negro Women's Organization]]'s pre-Lenten Calypso Carnival celebrations<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archives.library.yorku.ca/exhibits/show/pushingbuttons/black--caribbean-community/caribana-buttons|title=York University Libraries {{!}} Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections online exhibits {{!}} Caribana buttons · The Jean Augustine Political Button Collection|website=archives.library.yorku.ca|language=en-US|access-date=2018-03-21}}</ref> and the centuries-long [[Black Canadians|Black Canadian]] tradition of [[Emancipation Day]] parades.<ref name=":0" />
While the Caribbean Festival holds events over several weeks, the culmination of the [https://www.caribana.com/ 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]] 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]], [[Soca music|soca]] and [[Calypso music|calypso]]. Floats can also be found which play [[Chutney music|chutney]], [[dancehall]] and [[reggae]] music.


{{Gallery
Celebrations such as Calypso Carnivals and the Emancipation parades made a lot of room for the Caribbean to exist as such a large observance of black Canadian pride. Canada's Carnival traditions owe a lot to the Canadian Negro Women's Association, or CANEWA, who were one of the first groups to make space for the commemoration of black history within Ontario. Although a majority of the members did not have Caribbean roots, from 1952 to 1964 CANEWA produced, funded, and hosted annual one-day celebrations of Caribbean culture through food, dance, and music called the Calypso Carnivals. These carnivals began as fundraisers for scholarships in order for black students to attend recently desegregated schools in southern Ontario. Emancipation Day Parades began to celebrate the liberation of slaves throughout the Americas and were largely observed around the same time as the Calypso Carnivals. The founders of this parade were largely decadents 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.<ref>Phillip, Lyndon. “Reading Caribana 1997: Black Youth, Puff Daddy, Style, and Diaspora Transformations” 2007.</ref>
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| File:Caribana 2009 (3).jpg
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| File:Centennial College Caribana 090.JPG
| A costume designed by [[Centennial College (Canada)|Centennial College]]'s School of Hospitality, Tourism, and Culture for the 2010 parade.
| alt3=Toronto Caribbean Carnival
}}


The bands are the most important part of the main Carnival parade. Each band displays an artistic theme through costume-making.<ref>{{Cite web|title=African Canadian Online: An Online Resource by the Centre for the Study of Black Cultures in Canada|url=http://www.yorku.ca/aconline/c_caribana.html|access-date=2022-02-08|website=yorku.ca}}</ref> 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.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}} 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]] has led a band since his brother recruited him from the Trinidad Carnival to help organize the first Caribana in 1967.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/caribana-caribbean-festival-carnival-funding-toronto-1.4136632|title=50 years later, the beat goes on for the city's Caribbean festival {{!}} CBC News|work=CBC|access-date=2018-03-11|language=en-US}}</ref> [[Louis Saldenah]] has actively participated in Caribana since 1977 and has been awarded the Band of the Year twenty times.<ref>{{Cite web|title=History {{!}} Saldenah Carnival|url=https://saldenahcarnival.com/history/|access-date=2022-02-04|language=en-US}}</ref> A King and Queen of the Band is also judged, and winning is considered claiming the biggest prize of the festival.
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. Simcoe Day is named in honour of [[John Graves Simcoe]], the first Lieutenant-Governor of [[Upper Canada]] (today's [[Ontario]]) who is credited with signing ''An Act to Prevent the Further Introduction of Slaves, and to Limit the Terms of Contracts for Servitude Within This Province'' (1793). The festival also coincides with August 1, which is also known as [[Emancipation Day]].


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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spacing.ca/toronto/2017/07/31/caribana-meaning-ordered-chaos/ |title=COMMUNITYComments3 Caribana and the meaning of ordered chaos |publisher=Spacing Toronto |access-date=March 11, 2018|date=July 31, 2017 }}</ref> In the 1980s, the parade ran along Bay and University Avenue. Since 1991, when the parade shifted to Lake Shore Boulevard into Exhibition Place, In 1993, the Caribana Marketplace covered market was added at [[Marilyn Bell|Marilyn Bell Park]] along the parade route.<ref>{{cite news|last=Turnbull|first=Barbara|date=July 30, 1993|title=Party time!|page=A06|newspaper=Toronto Star|location=Toronto ON}}</ref> In 2009, barricades were introduced to separate the spectators from those [[playing mas]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=reporter |first=Nicole Baute Staff |date=2009-07-30 |title=Don't fence us out, Caribana revellers say |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/dont-fence-us-out-caribana-revellers-say/article_edda7530-5c6f-5742-bd66-478175e63768.html |access-date=2023-08-08 |website=Toronto Star |language=en}}</ref>
[[Sean Combs|Puff Daddy]]'s performance in the festival in 1997 sparked a wave of criticism and protest, as "opinions lamenting the presence and dominance of urban music in general and rap in particular flooded talk radio programs and newspapers in the black community." Longtime Carnival purists mocked Puff Daddy's performance as "culturally weak, capitalistic, and a 'flash in the pan.'” Many observers raised concerns regarding cultural retention and festival organizers' moral-cultural responsibility.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Phillip|first1=Lyndon|title=Reading Caribana 1997: Black Youth, Puff Daddy, Style, and DiasporaTransformations|journal=Trinidad Carnival: The Cultural Politics of a Transnational Festival|pages=102–135|date=2007}}</ref>


In May 2010, the festival added a new initiative to involve post-secondary schools. The only college to participate was [[Centennial College (Canada)|Centennial College]] School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culture, where they created a costume theme of the Tropical Amazon.<ref>{{cite web|author=Centennial College|date=July 27, 2010|title=Centennial College students getting into the Caribana spirit|url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2010/27/c6887.html|access-date=October 3, 2016|publisher=Newswire.ca}}</ref>
==Events==
Several events occur over the course of the festivities celebrating Caribbean culture. The main stakeholders of the events are the [[Toronto Mas' Bands Association]], the [[Organization of Calypso Performing Artists]], and the [[Ontario Steelpan Association]].


{{Incomplete list|date=April 2022}}
While the Parade of Bands is the most-well known festivities, events include tastes of Caribbean life including exhibits, such as the first Caribana which displayed every book published by a Caribbean writer, including [[Austin Clarke (novelist)|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.
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+ class="nowrap" | Band of the Year winners
|-
! Year
! Band
! Leader(s)
|-
|2021
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|-
|2020
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|-
|2019
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|Louis Saldenah<ref name="Saldenah 20th">{{Cite web |title=Louis Saldenah named Toronto Caribbean Carnival top band for 20th time |url=https://www.toronto.com/news/louis-saldenah-named-toronto-caribbean-carnival-top-band-for-20th-time/article_df311b5b-ea7c-5bdd-91af-50c2d333036d.html |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=toronto.com}}</ref>
|-
|2018
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|-
|2017
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|Louis Saldenah<ref name="Saldenah 18th">{{Cite web |title=Louis Saldenah wins Toronto Caribbean Carnival top prize for 18th time |url=https://www.toronto.com/things-to-do/louis-saldenah-wins-toronto-caribbean-carnival-top-prize-for-18th-time/article_55c523de-4ba9-5477-9eef-d7eaf51df871.html? |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=toronto.com}}</ref>
|-
|2016
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|-
|2015
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|-
|2014
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|-
|2013
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|-
|2012
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|-
|2011
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|-
|2010
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|-
|2009
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
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|-
|2008
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
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|-
|2007
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
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|-
|2006
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
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|-
|2005
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
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|-
|2004
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
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|-
|2003
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
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|-
|2002
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
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|-
|2001
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
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|-
|2000
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
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|-
|1999
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|-
|1998
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
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|-
|1997
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|-
|1996
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|-
| 1995
| The Art of Nature
| Kenney Combs<ref name="band winners">{{Cite web |title=CARIBANA PAST WINNERS |url=https://carnaval.com/cityguides/toronto/awards68.htm |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=carnaval.com}}</ref>
|-
| 1994
| {{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
| Louis Saldenah<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1993
| The Golden Antilles
| Arnold Hughes<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1992
| The Architect
| Louis Saldenah<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1991
| Outa Dis World - Trinidad and Tobago
| Louis Saldenah<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1990
| Beyond the Darkness
| Louis Saldenah<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1989
| Fire On Ice
| Louis Saldenah<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1988
| Of Men and Gods
| Arnold Hughes and Associates<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1987
| Nations of the World
| Eddie Merchant<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1986
| The Treasures of Nursery Rhyme and Fairy Tales
| Eddie Merchant<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1985
| Flight into Fantasy
| Selwyn Davis and Whitfield Belasco<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1984
| Tribute to Sparrow and Kitchener
| Eddie Merchant<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1983
| Birds Evolution
| Eddie Merchant<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1982
| Night Out
| Louis Saldenah<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1981
| Power of the SKy
| Eddie Merchant<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1980
| Island in the Sun
| Louis Saldenah<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1979
| From the Caribbean with Love
| Russell Charter<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1978
| Birds of a Feather
| Raymond Lee<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1977
| Shangrila
| Louis Saldenah, Harold Saldenah, and Carlos Douglas<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1976
| Shaka's Dream Africa
| Nip Davis<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1975
| A Compendium of Games
| Noel Audain<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1974
| Festival of Fans/Noctural Emissions
| Nip Davis and Earnest Castello/Kenn Shah<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1973
| Modes of the Seasons
| Earnest Castello<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1972
| Tales of Utopia
| Earnest Castello<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1971
| Tout C'est Beau/Wonderful World of Colour
| Earnest Castello/Noel Audain<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1970
| Snow Kingdom
| Keith Sheppard, Joe Brown, Steve Dyal, Kenn Shah<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1969
| Splendor of the Dark Continent
| Clive Brand<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1968
| The Fantasy of the American Indians
| Clive Brand<ref name="band winners" />
|-
| 1967
| Flight Into Fantasy
| Alpha King, Whitfield Belasco, and Nip Davis<ref name="stalwarts">{{Cite web |title=Caribana stalwarts honoured at gala |url=https://sharenewsarchive.com/archives/20090729caribana-stalwarts-honoured-gala/ |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=carnaval.com}}</ref>
|}


===Jr King & Queen Showcase===
=== 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]] 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]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carnival Queen Joella Crichton's story subject of new film |url=https://www.ronfanfair.com/home/2021/8/28/08t4d70myt3991le8mz3gdkbol7i9r |access-date=2022-02-08 |website=Ron Fanfair |date=August 28, 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Seventh straight win for Carnival Queen |url=https://www.ronfanfair.com/home/2017/8/9/seventh-straight-win-for-carnival-queen |access-date=2022-02-08 |website=Ron Fanfair |date=August 9, 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=DeMara |first=Bruce |date=2021-09-05 |title=Film about Toronto Carnival takes centre stage at this year's CaribbeanTales International Film Festival |language=en-CA |work=The Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/09/05/film-about-toronto-carnival-takes-centre-stage-at-this-years-caribbean-tales-film-festival.html |access-date=2022-02-08 |issn=0319-0781}}</ref>


{{Incomplete list|date=April 2022}}
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
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+ class="nowrap" | Queen of the Bands
|-
! Year
! Queen
! Title
! Band
! Band Leader(s)
|-
|2008
|Joella Crichton<ref name="crowned">{{Cite news |title=Caribana Queen and King crowned at festival|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2008/08/01/caribana_queen_and_king_crowned_at_festival.html |access-date=2022-02-08 |newspaper=The Toronto Star |date=August 2008 |language=en-US}}</ref>
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|-
|2007
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2006
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2005
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2004
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2003
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2002
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2001
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2000
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1999
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1998
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1997
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1996
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1995
|Danielle Lee<ref name="band winners" />
|Lady of Life
|Sunrise and Sunset
|Nip Davis and Courtney Doldron
|-
|1994
|Natasha McCollin<ref name="band winners" />
|Dance Ka Lay Lay
|Dancing in the Street
|Ken de Freitas
|-
|1993
|Penney Sutherland<ref name="band winners" />
|Amazon Queen
|Golden Antilles
|Arnold Hughes
|-
|1992
|Venetia Saldenah<ref name="band winners" />
|Pandora Box
|The Architect
|Louis Saldenah
|-
|1991
|Ariene Parris<ref name="band winners" />
|Wave of Light and Life
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|Kenne de Freitas
|-
|1990
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1989
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1988
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1987
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1986
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1985
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1984
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1983
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1982
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1981
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1980
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1979
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1978
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1977
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1976
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1975
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1974
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1973
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1972
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1972
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1971
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1970
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1969
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1968
|Yvonne Alexander<ref name="band winners" />
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|-
|1967
|Hyacinth Noreiga<ref name="cbc 1st queen">{{Cite web |title=No competition for Toronto's first Caribbean Queen 5- years ago |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/caribana-caribbean-queen-50-years-hyacinth-noreiga-1.4139855 |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=cbc.ca}}</ref>
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|}


{{Incomplete list|date=April 2022}}
===Grand Parade===
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
[[File:Caribana 2009 (3).jpg|thumb|upright|Caribana festivities culminate with the Parade of Bands during the [[civic holiday]] in August.]]
|+ class="nowrap" | King of the Bands
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]] 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]], [[Soca music|soca]] and [[Calypso music|calypso]]. Floats can also be found which play [[Chutney music|chutney]], [[dancehall]] and [[reggae]] music.
|-
! Year
! King
! Title
! Band
! Band Leader(s)
|-
|2008
|Ronald Alleyze<ref name="crowned" />
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|-
|2007
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2006
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2005
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2004
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2003
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2002
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2001
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|2000
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1999
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1998
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1997
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1996
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1995
|Jason Connelle/Courtney Doldron<ref name="band winners" />
|A Mystical Bird/Chaos
|So Nice So Sweet/Sunrise and Sunset
|Ken de Freitas/Nipp Davis and Courtney Doldron
|-
|1994
|Courtney Doldron<ref name="band winners" />
|XXX
|Abracadabra
|Nip Davis and Courtney Doldron
|-
|1993
|Rudy Rampersad<ref name="band winners" />
|The Nebula
|Light After Dark
|Louis Saldenah
|-
|1992
|John Kam/Rudy Ramparsad<ref name="band winners" />
|King Solomon's Dream/Visions of the Architect
|Biblical and Mythical Dreams/The Architect
|Dreams by Caribbean & Canadian Cultural Club (The 4 C's)/Louis Saldenah
|-
|1991
|John Kam<ref name="band winners" />
|Northern Reflections
|Realms of Light
|Arnold Hughes
|-
|1990
|John Kam<ref name="band winners" />
|High Priest of El Dorado
|Poetry in Motion
|Arnold Hughes
|-
|1989
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1988
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1987
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1986
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1985
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1984
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1983
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1982
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1981
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1980
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1979
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1978
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1977
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1976
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1975
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1974
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1973
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1972
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1972
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1971
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1970
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1969
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|
|
|
|-
|1968
|Francis Dennis<ref name="band winners" />
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|}


=== Calypso Monarch ===
Band leaders start preparation for the following year, the day after the parade ends. As of 2017, Whitfield Belasco has led a band since his brother recruited him from the Trinidad Carnival to help organize the first Caribana in 1967.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/caribana-caribbean-festival-carnival-funding-toronto-1.4136632|title=50 years later, the beat goes on for the city's Caribbean festival {{!}} CBC News|work=CBC|access-date=2018-03-11|language=en-US}}</ref>
Started in 1980, this judged event crowns a Calypso Monarch for the year.<ref name="band winners" />


{{Incomplete list|date=April 2022}}
The bands are the most important part of the main Carnival parade. The bands are actually in competition with one another during the parade. They must 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. Bands typically dance to soca. A King and Queen of the Band is also judged, and winning is considered claiming the biggest prize of the festival.
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+ class="nowrap" | Caylpso Monarch winners
|-
! Year
! Monarch
|-
|1988
|John 'Jayson' Perez<ref name="stalwarts" />
|-
|1987
|John 'Jayson' Perez<ref name="stalwarts" />
|-
|1986
|John 'Jayson' Perez<ref name="stalwarts" />
|-
|1985
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|-
|1984
|John 'Jayson' Perez<ref name="stalwarts" />
|-
|1983
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|-
|1982
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|-
|1981
|{{Data missing|?|date=April 2022}}
|-
|1980
|Lord Smokey<ref name="band winners" />
|}


===J'ouvert===
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spacing.ca/toronto/2017/07/31/caribana-meaning-ordered-chaos/ |title=COMMUNITYComments3 Caribana and the meaning of ordered chaos |publisher=Spacing Toronto |access-date=March 11, 2018|date=July 31, 2017 }}</ref> 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]]
In addition to the main parade, the Caribbean community also celebrates a smaller pre-dawn parade known as [[J'ouvert]] (Pronounced "Jou-vay"). This too has been modelled after [[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]] 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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visittnt.com/todo/events/Carnival/old_time/default.html |title=Old-Time Carnival Characters (Archive) |publisher=Trinidad Investment and Development Co. (TIDCO) |access-date=July 31, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040907100427/http://www.visittnt.com/todo/events/Carnival/old_time/default.html |archive-date = September 7, 2004}}</ref> that are a part of Afro-Caribbean folklore<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.triniview.com/TnT/Soucouyant.htm |title=Trinidad & Tobago's Folklore and Legends The Mayaro Soucouyant (Archive) |publisher=Paria Publishing |access-date=July 31, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020313062217/http://www.triniview.com/TnT/Soucouyant.htm |archive-date = March 13, 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedominican.net/articles/soukouyant.htm |author=Fontaine, Thomson|title=Of Myths Folklore and Legends – The Story of Lougarous and Soukouyants |publisher=TheDominican.Net |volume=1| issue= 88|date=December 11, 2006|access-date=July 31, 2009}}</ref> 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<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy1k-CgMNBU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/yy1k-CgMNBU |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Artiste: 3 Canal, Song: Mud Madness |date=January 18, 2008 |publisher=YouTube |access-date=July 31, 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref> or oil.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/cricket/431859723/in/set-72157594276519883/ |title=Photo of some "Blue Devils" during the 2007 Cricket World Cup-In the Caribbean |publisher=Flickr |access-date=July 31, 2009|date=March 23, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VeoEmaxjg4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/7VeoEmaxjg4 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Artiste: 3 Canal, Song: Blue, 1997|date=January 13, 2008 |publisher=YouTube |access-date=July 31, 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref>


===King and Queen Showcase===
=== 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.
The night before the grande parade, all the kings and queens (leaders) of the bands compete on stage at [[Lamport Stadium]] to be named King and Queen of Carnival.
* '''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 "[[fête]]s", 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 island picnics now occur at [[Ontario Place]]. Picnics are two days of feasting on [[roti]]s, [[jerk chicken]] and [[Festival_(food)|festival]], [[callaloo]], goat head soup, [[potato pudding]], [[pelau]], fried fish, cow foot, [[rum cake]]s; drinking sorrell, Mauby, and [[ginger beer]]; and dancing to music.
* '''Calypso tents''' (shows)
* '''Talk tents:''' Talk tents contain shows featuring storytellers, comedians and others well versed in oral traditions.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Toronto Caribbean Carnival, Caribana|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Music in Canada]]|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/caribana-emc|access-date=September 7, 2019|author=Annemarie Gallaugher}}</ref>
* '''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==
===Calypso Monarch===
{{Further|History of Caribana}}
An event where the Calypso Monarch is crowned.


===Junior Carnival Parade===
=== Origins ===
[[File:Caribana (3820807793).jpg|thumb|A Caribana parade participant in 1977.]]
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.
Caribana has run annually since 1967, first performed as a gift from Canada's Caribbean community, as a tribute to [[Canadian Centennial|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.<ref name=jackson>{{Cite journal|last=Jackson|first=Peter|title=The politics of the streets: a geography of Caribana|journal=Political Geography|volume=11|issue=2|pages=130–151|doi=10.1016/0962-6298(92)90045-u|s2cid=140528991 }}</ref> 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]] sang to a sold-out crowd at the [[O'Keefe Centre]] in Toronto), [[Civil Rights Movement]] activities including the Canadian visits by [[Malcolm X]] and [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], and [[Muhammad Ali]]'s fight against the Canadian heavyweight champion [[George Chuvalo]].<ref name=":0" />


Introduced by immigrants from the [[Caribbean]], Caribana showcases multiple cultures and traditions from same heritage backgrounds coming together to celebrate their heritage ties (namely, Afro-Caribbeana persons 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.<ref name=":5">{{Cite thesis |last=Gomez|first=Henry|date=2021-07-06|title=The Caribana Parade: Storming and Issues of Power and Control|url=https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/handle/10315/38427 |website=yorku.ca |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|3,88}}<ref>{{Cite web|last=Taylor|first=Sharine|date=2021-01-05|title=Carnival, Blackness and the Precarity of Public Safety|url=https://www.azuremagazine.com/article/carnival-caribana-toronto-blackness-precarity-public-safety/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Azure Magazine}}</ref> Following the carnival format, particularly that of the [[Trinidad and Tobago Carnival]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Campbell|first=Mark V.|date=2017-08-10|title=Fifty years of celebrating island culture at Toronto's Caribbean Carnival|url=https://toptoronto.ca/2017/08/10/fifty-years-of-celebrating-island-culture-at-torontos-caribbean-carnival/|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-04|website=TopToronto.ca|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104070838/https://toptoronto.ca/2017/08/10/fifty-years-of-celebrating-island-culture-at-torontos-caribbean-carnival/ |archive-date=January 4, 2022 }}</ref> Caribana's Caribbean influences include traditions from many of the islands: [[John Canoe]] in Jamaica, [[Crop Over]] in Barbados, and other similar festivals in Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://spacing.ca/toronto/2017/07/31/caribana-meaning-ordered-chaos/|title=Caribana and the meaning of ordered chaos - Spacing Toronto|date=2017-07-31|work=Spacing Toronto|access-date=2018-03-11|language=en-US}}</ref>
===J'ouvert===
In addition to the main parade, the Caribbean community also celebrates a smaller pre-dawn parade known as [[J'ouvert]] (Pronounced "Jou-vay"). This too has been modelled after and taken from [[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]] 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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visittnt.com/todo/events/Carnival/old_time/default.html |title=Old-Time Carnival Characters (ARCHIVE) |publisher=Trinidad Investment and Development Co. (TIDCO) |access-date=July 31, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040907100427/http://www.visittnt.com/todo/events/Carnival/old_time/default.html |archive-date = September 7, 2004}}</ref> that are a part of Afro-Caribbean folklore<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.triniview.com/TnT/Soucouyant.htm |title=Trinidad & Tobago's Folklore and Legends The Mayaro Soucouyant (ARCHIVE) |publisher=Paria Publishing |access-date=July 31, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020313062217/http://www.triniview.com/TnT/Soucouyant.htm |archive-date = March 13, 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedominican.net/articles/soukouyant.htm |author=Fontaine, Thomson|title=Of Myths Folklore and Legends – The Story of Lougarous and Soukouyants |publisher=TheDominican.Net |volume=1| issue= 88|date=December 11, 2006|access-date=July 31, 2009}}</ref> and include things like Red Devils (people covered in red paints), Blue Devils (people covered in blue paints), Green devils, Black devils, Yellow devils, White devils, (usually people throwing baby powder or flour.) or people just covered in other concoctions which are supposed to resemble mud<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy1k-CgMNBU |title=Artiste: 3 Canal, Song: Mud Madness |publisher=YouTube |access-date=July 31, 2009}}</ref> or oil.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/cricket/431859723/in/set-72157594276519883/ |title=Photo of some "Blue Devils" during the 2007 Cricket World Cup-In the Caribbean |publisher=Flickr |access-date=July 31, 2009|date=March 23, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VeoEmaxjg4 |title=Artiste: 3 Canal, Song: Blue, 1997|publisher=YouTube |access-date=July 31, 2009}}</ref>


Caribana also taps into the legacy of the pre-Lenten Calypso Carnival celebrations organized by the [[Canadian Negro Women's Organization]] (CANEWA) and headed by [[Kay Livingstone]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archives.library.yorku.ca/exhibits/show/pushingbuttons/black--caribbean-community/caribana-buttons|title=York University Libraries {{!}} Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections online exhibits {{!}} Caribana buttons · The Jean Augustine Political Button Collection|website=archives.library.yorku.ca|language=en-US|access-date=2018-03-21}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> 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.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" />
===Fêtes===
[[File:Side show (3814879441).jpg|thumb|Musicians playing the drums during Caribana.]]
Leading up to the main parade a number of Caribbean music artists perform in Toronto. These parties are generally called "[[fête]]s", for a French-Creole Caribbean word meaning "festival", and usually start in June–July.


The centuries-long [[Black Canadians|Black Canadian]] tradition of [[Emancipation Day]] parades are also an influence on Caribana.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":3">Phillip, Lyndon. “Reading Caribana 1997: Black Youth, Puff Daddy, Style, and Diaspora Transformations” 2007.</ref>
===Picnics (Food Fest)===
Originally taking place on the [[Toronto Islands]], the island picnics now occur at [[Ontario Place]]. Picnics are two days of feasting on [[roti]]s, [[jerk chicken]] and [[festival]], [[callaloo]], goat head soup, [[potato pudding]], [[pelau]], fried fish, cow foot, [[rum cakes]]; drinking sorrell, Mauby, and [[ginger beer]]; and dancing to music.


The founding organizers' goal of using festival profits to create a Black community centre remain unfulfilled.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=Caribana Toronto History|url=https://kevingdaniel.wixsite.com/flagsandcolours/history-of-caribana|access-date=2022-02-08|website=flagsandcolours|language=en}}</ref>
===Calypso tents===
Talk tents contain shows featuring storytellers, comedians and others well versed in oral traditions.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Annemarie Gallaugher|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/caribana-emc|title=Toronto Caribbean Carnival, Caribana|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Music in Canada]]|access-date=September 7, 2019}}</ref>


===Administrative history===
===Gala (Carnival Ball)===
Plans for the first Caribana began in February 1966, when a group from Toronto’s West Indian community came together in an abandoned firehall on Bathurst Street and formed a celebration for Canada’s centennial. The group, originally named the Caribbean Centennial Committee, transformed into the Caribbean Committee for Cultural Advancement (CCAC) in 1968 when they decided that the event should be an annual celebration. One year later, the CCAC incorporated as the Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC).<ref name=sheppard>{{Cite journal|last=Sheppard |first=Patrick |title=Caribana |journal=Polyphony: The Bulletin of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=138 |date=1984 }}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last=Lydon |first=Phillip A. |date=1998 |title=The Caribana Festival: Continuity, Change, Crisis, and an Alternative Music |url=http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp01/MQ39221.pdf |type=master's thesis |pages=30 |publisher=York University |access-date=}}</ref>
The gala, debuted in 2008, is an evening of elegance celebrating Carnival music, arts, and the works of the pioneers of the Caribana festival.
This group consisted of ten individuals<ref name=":4" /> with its board members mostly made up of expatriate-Caribbean nationals living in Canada. One of these members was Trinidadian-born librarian [[Rita Cox]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Otchere |first=Shantal |date=2017-07-28 |title=In photos: a 50-year retrospective of Toronto Caribbean Carnival - NOW Magazine |url=https://nowtoronto.com/news/in-photos-a-50-year-retrospective-of-toronto-caribbean-carnival/ |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=NOW Toronto |language=en-US}}</ref> [[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.<ref name=":0" /> The CCC changed its name to the Caribbean Committee for Cultural Advancement (CCCA) in 1968 and Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC) in 1969.<ref name=":4" />


In 1970, the Carnival Development Association (CDA) organized a different festival under the name “Carnival Extravaganza.” The Carnival was created in response to the CCC's Caribana, which celebrated a pan-Caribbean culture and the Black Canadian identity. The CDA’s intention was to make a Carnival which was more “authentic” and reflected Trinidadian culture.<ref name="jackson" /> In 1974 and 1976, the province turned down an application by the CCC and gave a substantial sum to the CDA.<ref name="sheppard" /><ref>{{cite thesis |last= Lydon |first= Phillip A. |date=1998 |title= The Caribana Festival: Continuity, Change, Crisis, and an Alternative Music|url=http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp01/MQ39221.pdf |type=master’s thesis| pages = 50|chapter= |publisher=York University |docket= |oclc= |access-date=}}</ref>
==History==
{{Further|History of Caribana (1967–71)}}
Caribana has been run annually since 1967, first performed as a gift from Canada's Caribbean community, as a tribute to [[Canadian Centennial|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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jackson|first=Peter|title=The politics of the streets: a geography of Caribana|journal=Political Geography|volume=11|issue=2|pages=130–151|doi=10.1016/0962-6298(92)90045-u}}</ref> The name Caribana was invented by the organizers to capture the notions of Canada, the Caribbean, bacchanal and merrymaking.<ref name=":0" /> Caribana emerged during a time when many Caribbean residents emigrated to Canada following immigration reform, internationally acclaimed singers, such as [[Harry Belafonte]], was popularizing Caribbean music (in fact, Harry Belafonte sang to a sold-out crowd at the [[O'Keefe Centre]] in Toronto), [[Civil Rights Movement]] activities such as [[Malcolm X]] and [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], visited Canadian audiences, and [[Muhammad Ali]] fought against the Canadian heavyweight champion [[George Chuvalo]].<ref name=":0" />
[[File:Caribana (3820807793).jpg|thumb|A Caribana parade participant in 1977.]]
The main Caribana events were run by a [[nonprofit]] Toronto-based organization, the Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC), its board members mostly made up of expatriate-Caribbean nationals living in Canada. [[Charles Roach]] and [[Julius Iaasc]] (the first Black judge of the Federal Court of Appeal) were among the community leaders who organized the first Caribana.<ref name=":0" />


By 1980, the two organizing committees came together and the CCC once again was the sole organizing committee of Caribana. During this decade, the competing interests of the Metro police, city officials, and the corporate sponsors of Caribana threatened to overshadow the CCC's leadership. For example, in 1985, the police recommended moving the popular Olympic Island picnic event to the mainland but the picnics continued until 2009.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sutton |first1=Robert |title=Caribana will stay on Islands despite police pleas, group says |work=Toronto Star |date=20 January 1986}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last= Lydon |first= Phillip A. |date=1998 |title= The Caribana Festival: Continuity, Change, Crisis, and an Alternative Music|url=http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp01/MQ39221.pdf |type=master’s thesis| pages = 77|chapter= |publisher=York University |docket= |oclc= |access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Toronto strike forces Caribana event to move |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-strike-forces-caribana-event-to-move-1.802825 |access-date=17 July 2017 |work=CBC News |date=21 July 2009}}</ref>
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 very substantial debt to the City. The City of Toronto controversially forgave the entire outstanding debt after the 1992 event.<ref name=biggerprofit>{{cite news|last=Small|first=Peter|title=Caribana expecting bigger profit|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=August 11, 1992|author2=Jane Armstrong|location=Toronto ON|page=A06}}</ref> The same year, Caribana developed a new partnership with Toronto-area hotels.<ref>{{cite news|last=Henton|first=Darcy|title=Tourism faces new economy|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=May 1, 1993|location=Toronto ON|page=A2}}</ref>


In 1991, the Caribana parade was moved to Exhibition Place and Lakeshore Boulevard. Previously, participants jumped up and played mas down Yonge Street or University Avenue on their way to the Toronto Islands.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cheung |first1=Michelle |title=50 years later, the beat goes on for the city's Caribbean festival |url=http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/features/caribana2008/history.html |access-date=17 July 2017 |work=CBC News |date=31 May 2017}}</ref>
In 1993, the organization fired its operating chief.<ref name=opchief>{{cite news|title=Caribana fires operating chief|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=May 21, 1993|location=Toronto ON|page=A07}}</ref> At launch in [[Nathan Phillips Square]], 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]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Wright|first=Lisa|title=Caribana bumps and grinds|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=July 20, 1993|location=Toronto ON|page=A06}}</ref> Also in 1993, the Caribana Marketplace covered market was added at [[Marilyn Bell|Marilyn Bell Park]] along the parade route.<ref>{{cite news|last=Turnbull|first=Barbara|title=Party time!|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=July 30, 1993|location=Toronto ON|page=A06}}</ref> A well-behaved crowd and barricades along the entire parade route contributed to an incident-free parade.<ref name=soakup1993>{{cite news|title=A million revellers soak up Caribbean beat|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=August 1, 1993|location=Toronto ON|page=A01}}</ref> With attendance down, the board chair blamed the federal and provincial tourism ministries for not funding their American advertising campaign.<ref name=grumblesandraves>{{cite news|last=MacKinnon|first=Donna Jean|title=Caribana draws grumbles and rave reviews|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=August 5, 1993|location=Toronto ON|page=A06}}</ref>


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.<ref name="biggerprofit">{{cite news|last=Small|first=Peter|title=Caribana expecting bigger profit|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=August 11, 1992|author2=Jane Armstrong|location=Toronto ON|page=A06}}</ref> The same year, Caribana developed a new partnership with Toronto-area hotels.<ref>{{cite news|last=Henton|first=Darcy|title=Tourism faces new economy|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=May 1, 1993|location=Toronto ON|page=A2}}</ref> In 1993, the organization fired its operating chief.<ref name="opchief">{{cite news|date=May 21, 1993|title=Caribana fires operating chief|page=A07|newspaper=Toronto Star|location=Toronto ON}}</ref> Following [[Sean Combs|Puff Daddy]]'s performance in 1997, many observers raised concerns regarding cultural retention and festival organizers' moral-cultural responsibility.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Phillip|first1=Lyndon|title=Reading Caribana 1997: Black Youth, Puff Daddy, Style, and DiasporaTransformations|journal=Trinidad Carnival: The Cultural Politics of a Transnational Festival|pages=102–135|date=2007}}</ref> At launch in [[Nathan Phillips Square]], 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]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Wright|first=Lisa|title=Caribana bumps and grinds|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=July 20, 1993|location=Toronto ON|page=A06}}</ref> With attendance down, the board chair blamed the federal and provincial tourism ministries for not funding their American advertising campaign.<ref name="grumblesandraves">{{cite news|last=MacKinnon|first=Donna Jean|title=Caribana draws grumbles and rave reviews|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=August 5, 1993|location=Toronto ON|page=A06}}</ref>
In September 2004, after the 37th festival, the [[consul general]] of Trinidad and Tobago pledged to work more closely with Caribbean Cultural Committee to get support for the carnival from the business community; the committee received around {{CAD|1 million}} that year from the national, provincial, and city governments, but it cost about twice that to run the festival.<ref>Doyle-Marshall, William,
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070926231823/http://www.guardian.co.tt/archives/2004-09-15/bussguardian6.html "The festival for all – Envoy targets Board of Trade to boost Caribana"], ''The Trinidad Guardian'', September 9, 2004.</ref>


In 1997, the bandleaders threatened to boycott the parade if they were not paid for the year’s previous festival and provided with the necessary seed-money to fund production for 1997. The bandleaders were organized under the Ontario Mas Producers Association (OMPA) and the Toronto Mas Makers Association (TMMA).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Depradine |first1=Lincoln |title=Lack of funding threatens Caribana |work=Share |date=10 April 1997 |page=15}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Depradine |first1=Lincoln |title=Top bands out of Caribana '97 |work=Share |date=24 April 1997 |page=18}}</ref> The OMPA would become the Toronto Mas Band Association (TMBA) in 2000.
In 2006, the Caribbean Cultural Committee ran into financial troubles again. Because of a lack of financial accountability, the [[City of Toronto government]] cut off funding until the organization could get its finances in order. Instead, the 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)".
[[File:Centennial College Caribana 090.JPG|thumb|upright|A costume designed by [[Centennial College]]'s School of Hospitality, Tourism, and Culture for the 2010 parade.]]
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.<ref>{{cite web|author=Centennial College |url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2010/27/c6887.html |title=Centennial College students getting into the Caribana spirit |publisher=Newswire.ca |date=July 27, 2010 |access-date=October 3, 2016}}</ref> On September 1, 2010, new management took over the Festival Management Committee (FMC) and named Denise Herrera-Jackson as CEO/Chair of FMC and Chris Alexander as CAO.


By the early 2000s, several organizations formed which represented different groups involved in Caribana. The TMBA oversaw the making and promotion of mas bands and represented their interests. The Ontario Steelpan Association (OSA), organized in 2002, did the same for the steelpan musicians. These associations, which also included the Ontario Calypso Performing Artistes (OCPA), formed in 1981, became key stakeholders in Caribana.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Festival Management Committee |title=Toronto Caribbean Carnival [Caribana]: 2006 Report to the City of Toronto |url=http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2006/agendas/committees/edp/edp060912/it036a.pdf |access-date=17 July 2017 |page=6 |date=September 2006}}</ref>
A naming dispute arose over the use of "Caribana." The Caribbean Cultural Committee claimed that it legally held the [[trademark]] for "Caribana". In April 2010, a panel for the [[World Intellectual Property Organization]] (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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scotiabank fails in bid to snag Caribana domain name |first=Omar |last=El Akkad |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/scotiabank-fails-in-bid-to-snag-caribana-domain-name/article1546808/ |newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=April 26, 2010 |access-date=May 9, 2010 |quote=Scotiabank's unsuccessful attempt to gain control of the potentially lucrative website name became the basis for a case before the global tribunal that resolves such domain name disputes – a case that lawyers say could have set a wide-ranging and controversial precedent. }}</ref> 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.


In 2001, the City of Toronto granted permits for the TMBA to organize the parade.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Halstead |first1=Joe |title=2001 Caribana Financial Report |url=http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2002/agendas/committees/edp/edp020121/it011.pdf |access-date=17 July 2017 |date=4 January 2002}}</ref> In 2002, the parade and king and queen crowning were also organized by the TMBA. The following year, the CCC was again the sole organizer of Caribana’s events.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rusk |first1=James |title=Caribana renamed to avert legal fight |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/caribana-renamed-to-avert-legal-fight/article4137568 |access-date=17 July 2017 |work=Globe and Mail |date=10 July 2002}}</ref>
In December 2018 it was announced that Richard De Lima was named new CEO / General Manager of the Festival Management Committee (Corporation) by Joe Halstead and FMC Board. In Late July and Early August 2019 Richard De Lima was terminated from his 2-year contract and festival operations were governed by the Governance Committee headed by Aneesa Oumarally who in late August was named CEO.


In September 2004, after the 37th festival, the [[consul general]] of Trinidad and Tobago worked with Caribbean Cultural Committee to increase support from the business community; the committee received around {{CAD|1 million}} that year from the national, provincial, and city governments, but it cost about twice that to run the festival.<ref>Doyle-Marshall, William,
In August 2019 the FMC Board appointed ANEESA OUMARALLY as its new CEO effective immediately,
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070926231823/http://www.guardian.co.tt/archives/2004-09-15/bussguardian6.html "The festival for all – Envoy targets Board of Trade to boost Caribana"], ''The Trinidad Guardian'', September 9, 2004.</ref> In 2006, the [[City of Toronto government]], unsatisfied by the CCC's financial audit report, invited the TMBA to apply for funding to operate and manage Caribana for 2006.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Eastwood |first1=Donald G. |title=Toronto Staff Report: 2006 Cultural Grant Allocation to the Toronto Mas Band Association |url=http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2006/agendas/committees/edp/edp060504/it021.pdf |access-date=20 July 2017 |page=2 |date=26 April 2006}}</ref> In the end, a city-appointed committee, the Festival Management Committee (FMC), in arrangement with the CCC board members, agreed to organize Caribana for one year. The proposed structure of the FMC’s board of directors was to include: two representatives from the TMBA, one representative from the OSA, one representative from the CPA, and seven additional members chosen by the festival’s stakeholders, including the CCC.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Festival Management Committee |title=Toronto Caribbean Carnival [Caribana]: 2006 Report to the City of Toronto |url=http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2006/agendas/committees/edp/edp060912/it036a.pdf |page=17 |date=September 2006}}</ref> The Caribana Arts Group (CAG), which succeeded the CCC in 2005, applied but was denied funding to resume its organization of Caribana.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Winsa |first1=Patty |title=Caribana trademark lawsuit settled |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/05/14/caribana_trademark_lawsuit_settled.html |access-date=17 July 2017 |work=Toronto Star |date=14 May 2017}}</ref> In 2006, the FMC board included two members of the CAG; however, both representatives withdrew from the board in 2010.<ref name=Winsa>{{cite news |last1=Winsa |first1=Patty |title=Caribana founders not giving up on reclaiming festival |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/08/10/caribana_founders_not_giving_up_on_reclaiming_festival.html; |access-date=17 July 2017 |work=Toronto Star |date=10 August 2014}}</ref>


Due to an ongoing dispute about the ownership of the trademark "Caribana," the 2006 festival was promoted as "the Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana)". In 2009, the festival was advertised as the "Scotiabank Caribana Festival" which resulted in a trademark lawsuit from CAG, as Caribana was trademarked in 1977, following unsuccessful attempts to reach a licensing agreement. As the successor organization of the CCC, the CAG is the trademark holder to "Caribana." Following the settlement of the trademark infringement in 2011, the festival’s name was changed to "Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival." The name changed to "Toronto Caribbean Carnival" in 2015 when Scotiabank discontinued their sponsorship.<ref name="Winsa" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Mangione|first1=Kendra|title=CScotiabank won't renew sponsorship of Caribbean Carnival |url=http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/scotiabank-won-t-renew-sponsorship-of-caribbean-carnival-1.2610963 |access-date=20 July 2017 |work=CTV News Toronto |date=15 October 2015}}</ref>
In 2019 UNESCO the Canadian Commission officially recognizes the festival and names as a Cultural heritage property.


In 2019 UNESCO the Canadian Commission officially recognizes the festival and names it a Cultural heritage property.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}
On April 9 2020 The Board Of Directors of Festival Management Committee officially announced due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Canada|coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic]] the 2020 festival (including the festival launch, junior kiddies carnival, Queen and King competition shows and the grande parade) has been cancelled for the safety for all participants and visitors. <ref> [https://www.cp24.com/news/toronto-caribbean-carnival-cancelled-due-to-covid-19-1.4889334] Toronto Caribbean Carnival cancelled due to COVID-19 http://www.cp24.com, published April 9 2020 </ref>


===Naming dispute===
In Late May/June 2020 it was announced by Festival Management Committee's CEO; Anneesa Oumarally that the 2020 Festival will take place in a virtual format accessing the festival from 2019 footage beginning July 3 at Toronto City Hall via festival website, Facebook, Twitter, Instragram and Zoom , the virtual format will be hosted by Kevin Carrington ( The Voice
The name Caribana was invented by the organizers to capture the notions of Canada, the Caribbean, bacchanal and merrymaking.<ref name=":0" /> A naming dispute arose over the use of "Caribana." The Caribbean Cultural Committee claimed that it legally held the [[trademark]] for "Caribana". In April 2010, a panel for the [[World Intellectual Property Organization]] (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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scotiabank fails in bid to snag Caribana domain name |first=Omar |last=El Akkad |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/scotiabank-fails-in-bid-to-snag-caribana-domain-name/article1546808/ |newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=April 26, 2010 |access-date=May 9, 2010 |quote=Scotiabank's unsuccessful attempt to gain control of the potentially lucrative website name became the basis for a case before the global tribunal that resolves such domain name disputes – a case that lawyers say could have set a wide-ranging and controversial precedent. }}</ref> 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===
In late August 2020 after a successful Virtual Carnival, current CEO Annesa Omuarally has been laid off after 1 year in the job she took over after the departure of Richard De Lima. Omuarally last official day at Festival Management Committee is August 31,2020 but returns as a member of the FMC Board. The Current Operations will be overseen by Denise Herrera Jackson & Chris Alexander until a New CEO is named.
The first named festival sponsor was [[Scotiabank]] (''Scotiabank Caribana'' from 2007 to 2011 and ''Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival'' from 2011 to 2015).<ref>[https://archive.today/20120708080734/http://caribflyer.com/carib/it%E2%80%99s-no-longer-caribana-festival-unveils-its-new-name/ "It's no longer Caribana: Festival unveils its new name"], Carib101.com, May 25, 2011.</ref> In October 2015, Scotiabank announced that it would end its sponsorship with Toronto's Caribbean Carnival parade after six years.<ref>{{cite news|date=October 2015|title=Scotiabank won't renew sponsorship of Caribbean Carnival|work=CTV News|url=http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/scotiabank-won-t-renew-sponsorship-of-caribbean-carnival-1.2610963}}</ref>


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.<ref name="ontariosciencecentre.ca">[https://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/Media/Details/449/ "Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2017"], News Release, Ontario Science Centre, June 1, 2017.</ref> In June 2019, Peeks' title sponsorship was removed and the festival was called the Toronto Caribbean Carnival for 2019.
===Incidents===
{{Gallery
Incidents have sometimes occurred at the festival, though organizers have long disassociated themselves from the violence. Said Lennox Farrell in 1992: "We as a board abhor any kind of violence whatsoever. If violence occurs outside a [[Toronto Blue Jays|Blue Jays]] game, it is not ever associated with the Blue Jays game. We wonder why in the mind of the press... that shooting has become associated with Caribana."<ref>{{cite news|last=Brent|first=Bob|title=Organizers fear violence might thwart '93 Caribana|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/456460111.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+04%2C+1992&author=Bob+Brent+Toronto+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Organizers+fear+violence+might+thwart+'93+Caribana&pqatl=google|access-date=July 31, 2011|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=August 4, 1992|location=Toronto ON|page=A6}}</ref>
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=== COVID-19 alternative formats ===
* 1971: A car accident caused parade route deaths and injuries,<ref>{{cite news|title=Car kills two children watching parade|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=August 2, 1971|location=Toronto ON|page=1}}</ref> and public transit fumbles which led to fighting.<ref>{{cite news|title=Free-for-all erupts on jammed TTC bus|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=July 31, 1971|location=Toronto ON|page=1}}; correction issued August 2 issue, page 2.</ref>
The 2020 and 2021 editions of the event were cancelled because of the global [[COVID-19 pandemic]];<ref>{{cite web |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/6798653/toronto-caribbean-carnival-2020-cancelled-coronavirus-covid19/ |title=Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2020 cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic |date=9 April 2020 |publisher=Global News |access-date=16 April 2020 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.cp24.com/news/toronto-caribbean-carnival-cancelled-due-to-covid-19-1.4889334] Toronto Caribbean Carnival cancelled due to COVID-19 http://www.cp24.com, published April 9, 2020</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Simonpillai|first=Radheyan|date=2021-06-15|title=Toronto Caribbean Carnival will be a food truck festival in 2021|url=https://nowtoronto.com/culture/toronto-caribbean-carnival-will-be-a-food-truck-festival-in-2021|access-date=2021-07-05|website=NOW Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref>
*1993: On July 28, a 29-year-old jumped off a Caribana cruise boat at 11 pm, telling friends that he would meet them on shore at Ontario Place. The [[Trillium (ferry)|''Trillium'']], the boat they were on, was about 300 feet (100 metres) from shore. Police recovered his body on the 30th.<ref>{{cite news|title=Body of man, 29, found on bottom of lake|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=July 31, 1993|location=Toronto ON|page=A04}}</ref> The victim's mother was hurt by speculation about his sobriety.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wright|first=Lisa|title=Police find body of man who leapt from ferry boat|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=August 1, 1993|location=Toronto ON|page=A13}}</ref> Another man was stabbed in the finger.<ref name="soakup1993"/> A barrier fell at one point, the crowd assisted in bringing them back up.<ref name="grumblesandraves"/>
*1996: August 3, 1996: Elrick Christian, 23, was shot and killed and three others, including a nurse visiting from Britain, were wounded during the Caribana parade. Three men were arrested on weapons-related charges after a volley of shots are fired in Marilyn Bell Park beside the parade route.
*2011: A man died in a 2011 shooting, while the woman he was with suffered multiple gunshot wounds. putting her in critical condition. Another man was hospitalized after the bullet grazed his eyebrow.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hannay|first=Chris|title=One dead, two injured in shooting along Caribbean parade route in Toronto|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/one-dead-two-injured-in-shooting-along-caribbean-parade-route-in-toronto/article2115517/|access-date=July 31, 2011|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=July 30, 2011|location=Toronto ON}}</ref>

===Sponsorship===
[[File:Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival.jpg|thumb|Logo from 2011 to 2015, when [[Scotiabank]] was the naming sponsor.|alt=]]
On May 25, 2011, the festival released its new logo and new name, "Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto".<ref>[https://archive.is/20120708080734/http://caribflyer.com/carib/it%E2%80%99s-no-longer-caribana-festival-unveils-its-new-name/ "It's no longer Caribana: Festival unveils its new name"], Carib101.com, May 25, 2011.</ref> In October 2015, Scotiabank announced that it would end its sponsorship with Toronto's Caribbean Carnival parade after six years.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/scotiabank-won-t-renew-sponsorship-of-caribbean-carnival-1.2610963 |title=Scotiabank won't renew sponsorship of Caribbean Carnival |work=CTV News |date=October 2015}}</ref>


== Economics and impact ==
The festival continued without a naming sponsor until 2017 when became the new title sponsor and the festival became the Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival.<ref name="ontariosciencecentre.ca">[https://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/Media/Details/449/ "Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2017"], News Release, Ontario Science Centre, June 1, 2017.</ref> In June 2019, Peeks' title sponsorship was removed and the festival was called the Toronto Caribbean Carnival for 2019.
The entire event, which is one of the first [[Caribbean Carnival]]s along with those in [[Labor Day Carnival|New York City]], [[Notting Hill Carnival|Notting Hill]] and [[Boston]] to be held outside of the Caribbean region. Economic studies estimate that the festival contributes approximately $400 million into Ontario's economy each year with the Federal Government being the largest beneficiary.<ref name=":1">{{cite news|date=May 3, 2010|title=The Caribana success story|work=[[Toronto Star]]|url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/803506|access-date=June 1, 2010}}</ref><ref name=":5"/>{{rp|30}} The participation demographics of over 1.2 million attendees indicates that 58% of attendees are from outside the [[Greater Toronto Area]]<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Flare|url=https://www.flare.com/news/toronto-caribbean-carnival-caribana/|access-date=February 4, 2022|archive-date=February 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204203506/https://www.flare.com/news/toronto-caribbean-carnival-caribana/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and over one million individuals from the United States.<ref name=":1" /> Approximately 72% of participants have previously attended Caribana.<ref name=":2" />
[[File:Peeks carnival logo on white.png|thumb|Logo Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2017-2018]]


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Carifiesta]]
* [[List of festivals in Canada]]
* [[List of festivals in Canada]]
* [[List of festivals in Ontario]]
* [[List of festivals in Ontario]]
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==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons category|Caribana}}
{{Commons category|Caribana}}
*{{Official website}}
* {{official|https://torontocarnival.ca/}}
*[https://www.caribana.com/ Caribana Arts Group]
*[https://www.torontocarnival.ca/history Toronto Caribbean Carnival virtual timeline]: an interactive and collaborative history project
*[http://ctasc.blog.yorku.ca/2017/08/04/caribanas-golden-anniversary Caribana's golden anniversary: an archival research guide] by the [[Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections]], [[York University Libraries]]
*[http://ctasc.blog.yorku.ca/2017/08/04/caribanas-golden-anniversary Caribana's golden anniversary: an archival research guide] by the [[Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections]], [[York University Libraries]]


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[[Category:Black Canadian culture in Toronto]]
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Latest revision as of 16:09, 13 August 2024

Toronto Caribbean Carnival
AbbreviationTCC[1]
Formation1967-2006 (CAG/CCC)
2006-present (FMC)
TypeCultural festival
Legal statusActive, non-profit
PurposeCelebration of Caribbean heritage
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada
Location
  • 716 Gordon Baker Rd. Suite 201, Toronto, Ontario
Official language
English, French
Chief Executive Officer
Mischka Crichton
Parent organization
Festival Management Committee
AffiliationsCity of Toronto government, Toronto Mas Bands Association, Ontario Steelpan Association (OSA), Organization of Calypso Performing Artists (OCPA)
BudgetCA$3.33 million
Staff12
Volunteers1,000+
Websitetorontocarnival.ca

The Toronto Caribbean Carnival, formerly and affectionately known as Caribana, is a festival of Caribbean culture and traditions held each summer in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a pan-Caribbean Carnival event and has been billed as North America's largest Festival,[2] frequented by over 1.3 million tourists each year for the festival's Grand Parade and an overall attendance of 2.3 million.[3]

Beginning in July, the multi-week festivities lead up to the parade which occurs over the Simcoe Day long weekend, the first weekend in August. The festival also coincides with August 1 Emancipation Day observances that commemorate the emancipation of slaves of African descent. The main stakeholders of the events are the Toronto Mas' Bands Association, the Organization of Calypso Performing Artistes, and the Ontario Steelpan Association.

Events

[edit]

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.[4]

Grand Parade

[edit]

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 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, soca and calypso. Floats can also be found which play chutney, dancehall and reggae music.

The bands are the most important part of the main Carnival parade. Each band displays an artistic theme through costume-making.[5] 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.[citation needed] 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 has led a band since his brother recruited him from the Trinidad Carnival to help organize the first Caribana in 1967.[6] Louis Saldenah has actively participated in Caribana since 1977 and has been awarded the Band of the Year twenty times.[7] 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.[8] In the 1980s, the parade ran along Bay and University Avenue. Since 1991, when the parade shifted to Lake Shore Boulevard into Exhibition Place, In 1993, the Caribana Marketplace covered market was added at Marilyn Bell Park along the parade route.[9] In 2009, barricades were introduced to separate the spectators from those playing mas.[10]

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.[11]

Band of the Year winners
Year Band Leader(s)
2021 [?]
2020 [?]
2019 [?] Louis Saldenah[12]
2018 [?]
2017 [?] Louis Saldenah[13]
2016 [?]
2015 [?]
2014 [?]
2013 [?]
2012 [?]
2011 [?]
2010 [?]
2009 [?]
2008 [?]
2007 [?]
2006 [?]
2005 [?]
2004 [?]
2003 [?]
2002 [?]
2001 [?]
2000 [?]
1999 [?]
1998 [?]
1997 [?]
1996 [?]
1995 The Art of Nature Kenney Combs[14]
1994 [?] Louis Saldenah[14]
1993 The Golden Antilles Arnold Hughes[14]
1992 The Architect Louis Saldenah[14]
1991 Outa Dis World - Trinidad and Tobago Louis Saldenah[14]
1990 Beyond the Darkness Louis Saldenah[14]
1989 Fire On Ice Louis Saldenah[14]
1988 Of Men and Gods Arnold Hughes and Associates[14]
1987 Nations of the World Eddie Merchant[14]
1986 The Treasures of Nursery Rhyme and Fairy Tales Eddie Merchant[14]
1985 Flight into Fantasy Selwyn Davis and Whitfield Belasco[14]
1984 Tribute to Sparrow and Kitchener Eddie Merchant[14]
1983 Birds Evolution Eddie Merchant[14]
1982 Night Out Louis Saldenah[14]
1981 Power of the SKy Eddie Merchant[14]
1980 Island in the Sun Louis Saldenah[14]
1979 From the Caribbean with Love Russell Charter[14]
1978 Birds of a Feather Raymond Lee[14]
1977 Shangrila Louis Saldenah, Harold Saldenah, and Carlos Douglas[14]
1976 Shaka's Dream Africa Nip Davis[14]
1975 A Compendium of Games Noel Audain[14]
1974 Festival of Fans/Noctural Emissions Nip Davis and Earnest Castello/Kenn Shah[14]
1973 Modes of the Seasons Earnest Castello[14]
1972 Tales of Utopia Earnest Castello[14]
1971 Tout C'est Beau/Wonderful World of Colour Earnest Castello/Noel Audain[14]
1970 Snow Kingdom Keith Sheppard, Joe Brown, Steve Dyal, Kenn Shah[14]
1969 Splendor of the Dark Continent Clive Brand[14]
1968 The Fantasy of the American Indians Clive Brand[14]
1967 Flight Into Fantasy Alpha King, Whitfield Belasco, and Nip Davis[15]

King and Queen Showcase

[edit]

The night before the grande parade, all the kings and queens (leaders) of the bands compete on stage at Lamport Stadium 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.[16][17][18]

Queen of the Bands
Year Queen Title Band Band Leader(s)
2008 Joella Crichton[19] [?] [?] [?]
2007 [?]
2006 [?]
2005 [?]
2004 [?]
2003 [?]
2002 [?]
2001 [?]
2000 [?]
1999 [?]
1998 [?]
1997 [?]
1996 [?]
1995 Danielle Lee[14] Lady of Life Sunrise and Sunset Nip Davis and Courtney Doldron
1994 Natasha McCollin[14] Dance Ka Lay Lay Dancing in the Street Ken de Freitas
1993 Penney Sutherland[14] Amazon Queen Golden Antilles Arnold Hughes
1992 Venetia Saldenah[14] Pandora Box The Architect Louis Saldenah
1991 Ariene Parris[14] Wave of Light and Life [?] Kenne de Freitas
1990 [?]
1989 [?]
1988 [?]
1987 [?]
1986 [?]
1985 [?]
1984 [?]
1983 [?]
1982 [?]
1981 [?]
1980 [?]
1979 [?]
1978 [?]
1977 [?]
1976 [?]
1975 [?]
1974 [?]
1973 [?]
1972 [?]
1972 [?]
1971 [?]
1970 [?]
1969 [?]
1968 Yvonne Alexander[14] [?] [?] [?]
1967 Hyacinth Noreiga[20] [?] [?] [?]
King of the Bands
Year King Title Band Band Leader(s)
2008 Ronald Alleyze[19] [?] [?] [?]
2007 [?]
2006 [?]
2005 [?]
2004 [?]
2003 [?]
2002 [?]
2001 [?]
2000 [?]
1999 [?]
1998 [?]
1997 [?]
1996 [?]
1995 Jason Connelle/Courtney Doldron[14] A Mystical Bird/Chaos So Nice So Sweet/Sunrise and Sunset Ken de Freitas/Nipp Davis and Courtney Doldron
1994 Courtney Doldron[14] XXX Abracadabra Nip Davis and Courtney Doldron
1993 Rudy Rampersad[14] The Nebula Light After Dark Louis Saldenah
1992 John Kam/Rudy Ramparsad[14] King Solomon's Dream/Visions of the Architect Biblical and Mythical Dreams/The Architect Dreams by Caribbean & Canadian Cultural Club (The 4 C's)/Louis Saldenah
1991 John Kam[14] Northern Reflections Realms of Light Arnold Hughes
1990 John Kam[14] High Priest of El Dorado Poetry in Motion Arnold Hughes
1989 [?]
1988 [?]
1987 [?]
1986 [?]
1985 [?]
1984 [?]
1983 [?]
1982 [?]
1981 [?]
1980 [?]
1979 [?]
1978 [?]
1977 [?]
1976 [?]
1975 [?]
1974 [?]
1973 [?]
1972 [?]
1972 [?]
1971 [?]
1970 [?]
1969 [?]
1968 Francis Dennis[14] [?] [?] [?]

Calypso Monarch

[edit]

Started in 1980, this judged event crowns a Calypso Monarch for the year.[14]

Caylpso Monarch winners
Year Monarch
1988 John 'Jayson' Perez[15]
1987 John 'Jayson' Perez[15]
1986 John 'Jayson' Perez[15]
1985 [?]
1984 John 'Jayson' Perez[15]
1983 [?]
1982 [?]
1981 [?]
1980 Lord Smokey[14]

J'ouvert

[edit]

In addition to the main parade, the Caribbean community also celebrates a smaller pre-dawn parade known as J'ouvert (Pronounced "Jou-vay"). This too has been modelled after 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 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[21] that are a part of Afro-Caribbean folklore[22][23] 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[24] or oil.[25][26]

Other events

[edit]
  • 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 island picnics now occur at Ontario Place. Picnics are two days of feasting on rotis, jerk chicken and festival, callaloo, goat head soup, potato pudding, pelau, fried fish, cow foot, rum cakes; drinking sorrell, Mauby, and ginger beer; and dancing to music.
  • Calypso tents (shows)
  • Talk tents: Talk tents contain shows featuring storytellers, comedians and others well versed in oral traditions.[27]
  • 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

[edit]

Origins

[edit]
A Caribana parade participant in 1977.

Caribana has 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.[28] 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 sang to a sold-out crowd at the O'Keefe Centre in Toronto), Civil Rights Movement activities including the Canadian visits by Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., and Muhammad Ali's fight against the Canadian heavyweight champion George Chuvalo.[3]

Introduced by immigrants from the Caribbean, Caribana showcases multiple cultures and traditions from same heritage backgrounds coming together to celebrate their heritage ties (namely, Afro-Caribbeana persons 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.[29]: 3, 88 [30] Following the carnival format, particularly that of the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival,[31] Caribana's Caribbean influences include traditions from many of the islands: John Canoe in Jamaica, Crop Over in Barbados, and other similar festivals in Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.[32]

Caribana also taps into the legacy of the pre-Lenten Calypso Carnival celebrations organized by the Canadian Negro Women's Organization (CANEWA) and headed by Kay Livingstone.[33][29] 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.[34][29]

The centuries-long Black Canadian tradition of Emancipation Day parades are also an influence on Caribana.[3] 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.[34]

The founding organizers' goal of using festival profits to create a Black community centre remain unfulfilled.[35]

Administrative history

[edit]

Plans for the first Caribana began in February 1966, when a group from Toronto’s West Indian community came together in an abandoned firehall on Bathurst Street and formed a celebration for Canada’s centennial. The group, originally named the Caribbean Centennial Committee, transformed into the Caribbean Committee for Cultural Advancement (CCAC) in 1968 when they decided that the event should be an annual celebration. One year later, the CCAC incorporated as the Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC).[36][37] This group consisted of ten individuals[35] with its board members mostly made up of expatriate-Caribbean nationals living in Canada. One of these members was Trinidadian-born librarian Rita Cox.[38] 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.[3] The CCC changed its name to the Caribbean Committee for Cultural Advancement (CCCA) in 1968 and Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC) in 1969.[35]

In 1970, the Carnival Development Association (CDA) organized a different festival under the name “Carnival Extravaganza.” The Carnival was created in response to the CCC's Caribana, which celebrated a pan-Caribbean culture and the Black Canadian identity. The CDA’s intention was to make a Carnival which was more “authentic” and reflected Trinidadian culture.[28] In 1974 and 1976, the province turned down an application by the CCC and gave a substantial sum to the CDA.[36][39]

By 1980, the two organizing committees came together and the CCC once again was the sole organizing committee of Caribana. During this decade, the competing interests of the Metro police, city officials, and the corporate sponsors of Caribana threatened to overshadow the CCC's leadership. For example, in 1985, the police recommended moving the popular Olympic Island picnic event to the mainland but the picnics continued until 2009.[40][41][42]

In 1991, the Caribana parade was moved to Exhibition Place and Lakeshore Boulevard. Previously, participants jumped up and played mas down Yonge Street or University Avenue on their way to the Toronto Islands.[43]

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.[44] The same year, Caribana developed a new partnership with Toronto-area hotels.[45] In 1993, the organization fired its operating chief.[46] Following Puff Daddy's performance in 1997, many observers raised concerns regarding cultural retention and festival organizers' moral-cultural responsibility.[47] At launch in Nathan Phillips Square, 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.[48] With attendance down, the board chair blamed the federal and provincial tourism ministries for not funding their American advertising campaign.[49]

In 1997, the bandleaders threatened to boycott the parade if they were not paid for the year’s previous festival and provided with the necessary seed-money to fund production for 1997. The bandleaders were organized under the Ontario Mas Producers Association (OMPA) and the Toronto Mas Makers Association (TMMA).[50][51] The OMPA would become the Toronto Mas Band Association (TMBA) in 2000.

By the early 2000s, several organizations formed which represented different groups involved in Caribana. The TMBA oversaw the making and promotion of mas bands and represented their interests. The Ontario Steelpan Association (OSA), organized in 2002, did the same for the steelpan musicians. These associations, which also included the Ontario Calypso Performing Artistes (OCPA), formed in 1981, became key stakeholders in Caribana.[52]

In 2001, the City of Toronto granted permits for the TMBA to organize the parade.[53] In 2002, the parade and king and queen crowning were also organized by the TMBA. The following year, the CCC was again the sole organizer of Caribana’s events.[54]

In September 2004, after the 37th festival, the consul general of Trinidad and Tobago worked with Caribbean Cultural Committee to increase support from the business community; the committee received around CA$1 million that year from the national, provincial, and city governments, but it cost about twice that to run the festival.[55] In 2006, the City of Toronto government, unsatisfied by the CCC's financial audit report, invited the TMBA to apply for funding to operate and manage Caribana for 2006.[56] In the end, a city-appointed committee, the Festival Management Committee (FMC), in arrangement with the CCC board members, agreed to organize Caribana for one year. The proposed structure of the FMC’s board of directors was to include: two representatives from the TMBA, one representative from the OSA, one representative from the CPA, and seven additional members chosen by the festival’s stakeholders, including the CCC.[57] The Caribana Arts Group (CAG), which succeeded the CCC in 2005, applied but was denied funding to resume its organization of Caribana.[58] In 2006, the FMC board included two members of the CAG; however, both representatives withdrew from the board in 2010.[59]

Due to an ongoing dispute about the ownership of the trademark "Caribana," the 2006 festival was promoted as "the Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana)". In 2009, the festival was advertised as the "Scotiabank Caribana Festival" which resulted in a trademark lawsuit from CAG, as Caribana was trademarked in 1977, following unsuccessful attempts to reach a licensing agreement. As the successor organization of the CCC, the CAG is the trademark holder to "Caribana." Following the settlement of the trademark infringement in 2011, the festival’s name was changed to "Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival." The name changed to "Toronto Caribbean Carnival" in 2015 when Scotiabank discontinued their sponsorship.[59][60]

In 2019 UNESCO the Canadian Commission officially recognizes the festival and names it a Cultural heritage property.[citation needed]

Naming dispute

[edit]

The name Caribana was invented by the organizers to capture the notions of Canada, the Caribbean, bacchanal and merrymaking.[3] A naming dispute arose over the use of "Caribana." The Caribbean Cultural Committee claimed that it legally held the trademark for "Caribana". In April 2010, a panel for the World Intellectual Property Organization (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.[61] 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

[edit]

The first named festival sponsor was Scotiabank (Scotiabank Caribana from 2007 to 2011 and Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival from 2011 to 2015).[62] In October 2015, Scotiabank announced that it would end its sponsorship with Toronto's Caribbean Carnival parade after six years.[63]

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.[64] In June 2019, Peeks' title sponsorship was removed and the festival was called the Toronto Caribbean Carnival for 2019.

COVID-19 alternative formats

[edit]

The 2020 and 2021 editions of the event were cancelled because of the global COVID-19 pandemic;[65][66] 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.[67]

Economics and impact

[edit]

The entire event, which is one of the first Caribbean Carnivals along with those in New York City, Notting Hill and Boston to be held outside of the Caribbean region. Economic studies estimate that the festival contributes approximately $400 million into Ontario's economy each year with the Federal Government being the largest beneficiary.[68][29]: 30  The participation demographics of over 1.2 million attendees indicates that 58% of attendees are from outside the Greater Toronto Area[69] and over one million individuals from the United States.[68] Approximately 72% of participants have previously attended Caribana.[69]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Toronto Caribbean Festival". Toronto Caribbean Carnival.
  2. ^ Toronto Caribbean Carnival or Caribana
  3. ^ a b c d e Foster, Cecil; Schwarz, Chris (1995). Caribana, the greatest celebration (Souvenir ed.). Toronto: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0345398165. OCLC 32391351.
  4. ^ Trip, Culture (June 1, 2016). "A Brief History Of Toronto's Caribana Festival". Culture Trip. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  5. ^ "African Canadian Online: An Online Resource by the Centre for the Study of Black Cultures in Canada". yorku.ca. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  6. ^ "50 years later, the beat goes on for the city's Caribbean festival | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  7. ^ "History | Saldenah Carnival". Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  8. ^ "COMMUNITYComments3 Caribana and the meaning of ordered chaos". Spacing Toronto. July 31, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  9. ^ Turnbull, Barbara (July 30, 1993). "Party time!". Toronto Star. Toronto ON. p. A06.
  10. ^ reporter, Nicole Baute Staff (July 30, 2009). "Don't fence us out, Caribana revellers say". Toronto Star. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  11. ^ Centennial College (July 27, 2010). "Centennial College students getting into the Caribana spirit". Newswire.ca. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  12. ^ "Louis Saldenah named Toronto Caribbean Carnival top band for 20th time". toronto.com. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  13. ^ "Louis Saldenah wins Toronto Caribbean Carnival top prize for 18th time". toronto.com. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq "CARIBANA PAST WINNERS". carnaval.com. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  15. ^ a b c d e "Caribana stalwarts honoured at gala". carnaval.com. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  16. ^ "Carnival Queen Joella Crichton's story subject of new film". Ron Fanfair. August 28, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  17. ^ "Seventh straight win for Carnival Queen". Ron Fanfair. August 9, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  18. ^ DeMara, Bruce (September 5, 2021). "Film about Toronto Carnival takes centre stage at this year's CaribbeanTales International Film Festival". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Caribana Queen and King crowned at festival". The Toronto Star. August 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  20. ^ "No competition for Toronto's first Caribbean Queen 5- years ago". cbc.ca. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  21. ^ "Old-Time Carnival Characters (Archive)". Trinidad Investment and Development Co. (TIDCO). Archived from the original on September 7, 2004. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
  22. ^ "Trinidad & Tobago's Folklore and Legends The Mayaro Soucouyant (Archive)". Paria Publishing. Archived from the original on March 13, 2002. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
  23. ^ Fontaine, Thomson (December 11, 2006). "Of Myths Folklore and Legends – The Story of Lougarous and Soukouyants". TheDominican.Net. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
  24. ^ "Artiste: 3 Canal, Song: Mud Madness". YouTube. January 18, 2008. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
  25. ^ "Photo of some "Blue Devils" during the 2007 Cricket World Cup-In the Caribbean". Flickr. March 23, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
  26. ^ "Artiste: 3 Canal, Song: Blue, 1997". YouTube. January 13, 2008. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
  27. ^ Annemarie Gallaugher. "Toronto Caribbean Carnival, Caribana". Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  28. ^ a b Jackson, Peter. "The politics of the streets: a geography of Caribana". Political Geography. 11 (2): 130–151. doi:10.1016/0962-6298(92)90045-u. S2CID 140528991.
  29. ^ a b c d Gomez, Henry (July 6, 2021). The Caribana Parade: Storming and Issues of Power and Control. yorku.ca (Thesis).
  30. ^ Taylor, Sharine (January 5, 2021). "Carnival, Blackness and the Precarity of Public Safety". Azure Magazine. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  31. ^ Campbell, Mark V. (August 10, 2017). "Fifty years of celebrating island culture at Toronto's Caribbean Carnival". TopToronto.ca. Archived from the original on January 4, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  32. ^ "Caribana and the meaning of ordered chaos - Spacing Toronto". Spacing Toronto. July 31, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  33. ^ "York University Libraries | Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections online exhibits | Caribana buttons · The Jean Augustine Political Button Collection". archives.library.yorku.ca. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  34. ^ a b Phillip, Lyndon. “Reading Caribana 1997: Black Youth, Puff Daddy, Style, and Diaspora Transformations” 2007.
  35. ^ a b c "Caribana Toronto History". flagsandcolours. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  36. ^ a b Sheppard, Patrick (1984). "Caribana". Polyphony: The Bulletin of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario. 6 (1): 138.
  37. ^ Lydon, Phillip A. (1998). The Caribana Festival: Continuity, Change, Crisis, and an Alternative Music (PDF) (master's thesis). York University. p. 30.
  38. ^ Otchere, Shantal (July 28, 2017). "In photos: a 50-year retrospective of Toronto Caribbean Carnival - NOW Magazine". NOW Toronto. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  39. ^ Lydon, Phillip A. (1998). The Caribana Festival: Continuity, Change, Crisis, and an Alternative Music (PDF) (master’s thesis). York University. p. 50.
  40. ^ Sutton, Robert (January 20, 1986). "Caribana will stay on Islands despite police pleas, group says". Toronto Star.
  41. ^ Lydon, Phillip A. (1998). The Caribana Festival: Continuity, Change, Crisis, and an Alternative Music (PDF) (master’s thesis). York University. p. 77.
  42. ^ "Toronto strike forces Caribana event to move". CBC News. July 21, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  43. ^ Cheung, Michelle (May 31, 2017). "50 years later, the beat goes on for the city's Caribbean festival". CBC News. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  44. ^ Small, Peter; Jane Armstrong (August 11, 1992). "Caribana expecting bigger profit". Toronto Star. Toronto ON. p. A06.
  45. ^ Henton, Darcy (May 1, 1993). "Tourism faces new economy". Toronto Star. Toronto ON. p. A2.
  46. ^ "Caribana fires operating chief". Toronto Star. Toronto ON. May 21, 1993. p. A07.
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43°37′56″N 79°25′01″W / 43.6322°N 79.4169°W / 43.6322; -79.4169