Caribana "Carnival of Toronto" August 1- 4th 2013

About Caribana

This past weekend has been filled with vibrant colors, rhythm and the beauty that is Caribana. Caribana is Toronto’s’ version of Carnival and is based on the Caribbean island of Trinidad’s culture and music history. The first Caribana took place in the late 1960s and was a ‘gift’ of the Caribbean population to the Canadian people. Caribana is held on the first Saturday in August and it commemorates Afro-Trinidadian’s emancipation from slavery during 1834. The climax of Caribana is the massive parade held downtown  Toronto and resembles the Carnival in Trinidad. Throughout the years Caribana has become a melting pot of all Caribbean cultures and displays this through music, costumes and food. The event is equally shared by all who enjoy music with a beat, good food, and the sight of breathing taking masqueraders.

Trip August 1^st to 4^th “Caribana 2013”

Visiting Canada with a few travel buddies during Caribana 2013 was such an exciting experience. My parents are both Caribbean, father (Trini) and mother (Jamaican) so I felt a resurgence of pride to take part in my heritage. Heritage wasn’t the only reason I wanted to experience Caribana. The chance to dance to good music, have fun exploring the city with friends’ and to see some of the most beautiful people in the world topped my list.  Even though it was a ten hour bus ride from New York to Toronto with friends’ it was less traumatic.  Of course, we compared the prices of cabs to New York’s  fare (which is double) and food prices (about the same). Currency exchanges were done onsite at any store that we went to and for the most part was reasonable. Everyone spoke English and seemed to be friendly which was amazing. We weren’t the only one’s making the trek up to Toronto for the Caribana festival; an estimated 1.1 million people visited Toronto for the event. As we were to all find out, the Caribana festival is quoted as being the largest in North America. Of that 1.1 million other visitors of Canada during Caribana weekend is my partner in crime  Mandela. The below footage is of Caribana 2013 weekend. Thanks again to Mandela Gregoire  for this footage.