By Gerald V. Paul

CARIBANA was on ice last Saturday at Nathan Phillips Square and the young and old came a-skating in the cold.

The CARIBANA event was promoted at locations across Toronto, teaching and sharing Caribbean culture through dance, cooking and costume-making with primary school children.

That will continue this summer in conjunction with local community groups and with support from Toronto District School Board.

“It’s cold but we are bringing the warmth of the Caribbean. You can hear the Calypso music, make yuh feel yuh wanna dance, ent?” said a chilly but enthused Glenna Charles.

The free event included a special presentation by Bernice Carnegie.

In 2011 CARIBANA Arts Group stepped into Jane and Finch to continue the Junior Carnival which has been rebranded as CARIBANA Flags and Colours.

CARIBANA Arts Group is using their history, experience and passion to present events around the city and continue to work with those who believe community and culture should remain as the primary purpose of this festival.

There is a new board with a new vision which says it is looking to build on the strengths of a great history and correct the mistakes of the past.

“We must prepare the scene for a new generation of Toronto residents to continue this internationally known cultural festival in the way the founders intended it to be. It was meant to achieve social development, economic empowerment and unity within and among the Black and Caribbean communities, through the industrialization of Caribbean carnival culture,” Knia Singh, CARIBANA chair, has said.