The Toronto Caribbean Carnival showcases artistic pageantry and beauty at Grande Parade

BY PAUL JUNOR

The 56th annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival was the culmination of weeks of preparation, organization and execution that featured 12 competitive bands. These bands showed tremendous visual creativity, aural ingenuity and sensual desirability that enthralled onlookers, spectators and guests from all over the world. It was estimated that over a million people were in attendance. The theme of this year’s festival was, “Diversity Live Here!”

The opening ceremony featured politicians from federal, provincial and municipal levels as well as elders from the Black community. The day’s event was broadcasted live by CP24 News which was hosted by Nathan Downer and Jesse Smith of CityTV News. Kevin Carrington of the CBC Radio served as MC for the entire event.

Ontario Premier, Doug Ford told the crowd, “Everybody is welcome. The world is watching Toronto now. The world is here, celebrating the allure, the food, the dance and of course, the great costumes.”

City councilor Michael Thompson who has been regularly attending the festival for the past few years reminded the crowd of the historical roots. He states, “The purpose of this Caribbean festival event is to ensure that we celebrate our Caribbean culture, our creativity and our ingenuity. There is so much more to us, to our community and culture, and what we have to do, we marry that to the diversity of this great city of Toronto.” He elaborates further, “This event signifies a coming of age for all of us. When we were unshaved from the vestiges of slavery. So, we came out. The reason why you see these scantily clothed individuals is to express our freedom, and I want you to remember that. This is an opportunity for us to work together to build a better place.”

Maurice Bygrave, one of the founders of the festival in 1967 recalled the early days, “Everybody was fighting for rights and freedom.” He commented on the fact that the festival has grown from a 7-day festival to a month-long one generating over $500 million to the coffers of the city. He notes, “It was a bit of a sweat for us – we didn’t have a lot of money, but we were determined.”

The starting time was 8:00 am for North America’s largest carnival festival proceeding from the Grand Parade area at Exhibition Place westward toward Dowling Avenue then eastward along Lake Shore Boulevard to where they started. The order of the bands and their themes are shown below:

1. Toronto Revellers – It’s Showtime
2. Tribal Knights – Once Upon A Time
3. Saldenah Carnival – Unmasked
4. Carnival Nationz – Let’s Go Around the World in 1000 Day
5. Sublime Mas – Desires
6. E.P.I.C Carnival – Passion
7. SugaCayne – I Wanna Dance with Somebody
8. Fantazia Carnival – Odds N’ Oddities
9. Costume Creators Cultural Art
10. Lavwaymas – Then & Now
11. Freedom Mas Band – Carnival is Women
12. LUX Carnival – Legend of Diamonds

On Sunday, August 7^th, 2023, the official results were announced by the Festival Management Committee; Carnival Nationz was the top band followed by: Toronto Revellers, Saldenah Mas-K-Club, Tribal Knights, Sublime Canada, E.P.I.C Carnival, SugaCayne, Fantazia, Freedom Mas Band, Costume Creators and LUX Carnival.

There were many challenges that continue to impact the Grande Parade. The issue of storming is one that has been particularly tough for the FMC to solve. Non-paying spectators tore down many of the barriers that separate the masqueraders from the spectators. Many of the acts of vandalism have gone viral. The long delay between bands, blockage of views by spectators who paid $40 entry fee and then having two entry points for the bands were other complaints.