Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2017 Highlights

The party is officially done for another year. This was my first full Toronto carnival in a while. I put together pictures of my favourite moments of Caribana 2017.

I kicked off Toronto Carnival with the BESS GUIDE boat cruise. Bess Guide is a website that focuses on Trini lifestyle and culture. One of the founders is an RTA alum like myself, so I had to support. Victor and I went with our friends Karlyn and Jason. It was the first consistently dry weekend of the summer. Great day to be out on the lake. Although we did feel a bit older than the majority of the crowd, a good time was had by all. That cruise was followed by an amazing dinner at Af1 Caribbean Canteen. Still dreaming about the plantain and that pepper shrimp, yum!!

Bess Guide Boat Cruise

EDEN

Next up was Eden a day time pop up cultural experience. Although it wasn’t an official Carnival event, it was still a celebration of the African diaspora (which includes thee Caribbean.)

Tasty African cuisine, beautiful people…good vibes all around.

Caribbean Creators Meet-Up

I was craving some fellowship and comradery. In honour of Toronto Carnival, I decided to host a little lunch time meet up at Lavelle for creators of Caribbean descent. Particularly those who work in digital media. We are missing a few people from this picture. But it was great to just reason with some like minded individuals.

KING AND QUEEN OF THE BANDS

I was bummed I didn’t make it to Soca or Die as planned, but I was able to take in King and Queen of the bands with my family. I get goose bumps every time I see those grand costumes take to the stage. We have close family friends who were competing and my dad also designed a few of the costumes. So we had a lot to cheer about. Congratulations to Joella Crichton who reigns supreme as queen of the ban for the ninth time. As an awesome bonus her sister Mischka took home the title for female individual!!

GRAND PARADE

I played mas for the 5th time with Saldenah and the third time with Dr.Jay mas. Parade day is always filled with excitement and nerves. It’s almost like a wedding. It took about 2 hours to put on this costume. Layers of sunblock, glitter cream and double sided tape. It’s a process…but so worth it! Loved this “Maplelicious” costume! I played with lots of friends, at least two of whom were playing for the first time. I can’t say I was a fan of the new multiple judging points (apologies to the marshalls I cursed out) but I did enjoy the moments in between…even when it rained. Congratulations to Saldenah mas for winning band of the year for the 18th time!

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