Exploring the dynamic world of Toronto’s Carnival scene reveals the intricate balance between tradition and innovation. Band leaders, the creative visionaries behind the mesmerizing masquerade costumes, face mounting challenges due to rising costs. To address these concerns and ensure the continued growth of this vibrant cultural event, increased funding from the Festival Management Committee becomes […]
By Roger Gibbs It will be 56 years since the Toronto Caribbean Carnival (TCC) or Caribana has been celebrated. After a 2-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, the festival roared back in 2022. With a new management team installed just over a year earlier, the Festival Management Committee (FMC) staged an incident-free Grand […]
By Ian Jones The Ontario Steelpan Association (OSA) was formally launched on June 26, 2003 at the Rotunda of the Scarborough Civic Centre in the presence of several representatives of the Toronto Steelpan Community – the Consul General for Trinidad & Tobago, Vernetta Calvin-Smith; Councillor Joe Mihevc (The Mayor’s Office); Keith Byer, Vice President, Pan […]
By Lennox Borel ‘Carnival is coming. Tell Doreen and Irene we go wine down Toronto. Dis fete have calypso. Dis fete have steelband. Dis fete have rum for so and plenty women also’ These are the words of Dave De Castro who won the Calypso Monarch title in 1968 with his song “Caribana De Big […]
The steelpan communities in Trinidad & Tobago and Canada are mourning the passing of Joslynne Sealey. She was the daughter of noted Trinidad folklorist, the late Andrew Carr. Sealey built an impressive musical career which started as a student at Trinidad’s Bishop Anstey High School. At the biennial 1968 T&T Music Festival, she won the […]
Jennifer Hirlehey, chair of the Festival Management Committee (FMC), producers of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, told a gathering of officials and mas’ aficionados at the official launch of the event last week that its financial state “has become critical.” In her welcoming address at the launch, she noted that putting on “the greatest show in […]
Keeping Calypso Alive in Canada By Henry “King Cosmos” Gomez For many years, Trinidad, now Trinidad and Tobago, has been know as the land of steelpan and calypso. Justifiably so, since this is where the steelpan, the only new acoustical musical instrument of the 20th century, was invented in the 1940s. Calypso, or Kaiso, has […]
By Stephen Weir The biggest question of the spring wasn’t about the revealing costumes that the Rated R section will be wearing on the road at this August’s Grand Parade. It was whether anyone would be brave to actually sign-up and join in. Imagine revelers confidently dancing down the Lakeshore, cracking whips. They will be […]
Stephen Weir Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square came alive on a scorching hot day as the 56th Caribbean Carnival was officially launched on Tuesday. The vibrant atmosphere was filled with excitement as approximately 2,000 enthusiastic audience members gathered to celebrate the rich Caribbean culture. The event took place at Toronto City Hall, where a jam-packed list […]
Dancehall star Konshens joins Freedom Mas Band for Carnival Parade By Stephen Weir Early this week Brampton’s Freedom Mas Band announced that Konshens will be joining them on Saturday, August 5th for the Carnival’s annual Grand Parade along Lakeshore Blvd. Garfield Delano Spence, popularly known as Konshens, has a massive following in various parts of […]
