Toronto Revellers and Tribal win Big at Junior King and Queen

Toronto Revellers and Tribal win Big at Junior King and Queen

It was a dazzling and fiercely competitive parade featuring 41 stunning costumes that ignited the enthusiasm of the packed stands at Scarborough Town Centre on a Sunday afternoon, extending into the early evening. Taking the coveted title of Junior Queen was Toronto Reveller’s Myauna King-Thomas, captivating the crowd in her enchanting ‘Belle of the Ball’ […]

Nurturing Creativity and Sustaining Tradition in Toronto’s Carnival

Nurturing Creativity and Sustaining Tradition in Toronto’s Carnival

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 […]

Carnival is Bacchanal

Carnival is Bacchanal

  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 […]

Ontario Steelpan Association keeping ‘Pan Alive’ for 20 years

Ontario Steelpan Association keeping ‘Pan Alive’ for 20 years

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 […]

Joslynne Sealey, musician, folklorist, dies at 88

Joslynne Sealey, musician, folklorist, dies at 88

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 […]

Carnival in critical financial state – Jennifer Hirlehey

Carnival in critical financial state – Jennifer Hirlehey

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

Keeping Calypso Alive in Canada

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 […]

Revellers’ R-rated section will be turning heads in the parade

Revellers’ R-rated section will be turning heads in the parade

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 […]

Toronto Caribbean Carnival kicks off with a blazing-hot launch

Toronto Caribbean Carnival kicks off with a blazing-hot launch

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 […]

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