Caribana Carnival: The Biggest Street Festival of North America

The city of Toronto is also popular in the world for its cultural and traditional Caribbean carnival i.e. Caribana festival. The carnival is celebrated every year as the biggest street festival of North America. Every year approx. 2 million people take part in this festival with approx. 1.5 million people participation in the Grand Street Parade. The grand street parade is the final event of the whole carnival celebration, which is carried out in the final week. Previously, this North American street festival was known as “Scotiabank Caribana”, but in 2011, it was renamed as the “Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival” and is continued to be celebrated with this name since then.

 
Caribana is one of the first Caribbean Carnivals along with Notting Hill carnival and the carnival celebrated in New York City. This annual festival of Toronto was introduced to Canada by the immigrants from St. Lucia, Barbados, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Antigua, Grenada and Dominica. In 1967, the carnival was first celebrated to give tribute to Canada’s Centennial. It is an astonishing and delightful reflection of various carnivals that are observed and rejoiced across the Caribbean Islands. It is a three-week fiesta of Caribbean cultural, music, visual art, cuisine, revelry and performing arts.

Street parade and the music are the major highlights of the carnival that energizes people and blows up the city. People participate and enjoy various events that are celebrated throughout the carnival celebration and dance on the rhythms and melodies of the popular Soca, Steel Pan, Reggae, Calypso, Chutney and Brass Bands music. The Caribbean Carnival Parade is the biggest event of the festival, which is going to be celebrated on August 1, 2015. Apart from this big and main street parade, the Caribbean community also celebrates a smaller pre-dawn parade, which is popularly known as J'ouvert.

Several Caribbean music artists perform in Toronto city during the grand street parade. These melodious parties are popularly known as "fêtes". To heighten-up the carnival celebration, bands also play a significant role. In addition to the musical performances, street parade and food festival, the carnival also catches attention of the people because of its elaborated, colorful feather costumes. Different types of quills are used to make fascinating carnival costumes. Ostrich feathers, cocktail quills, pheasant feathers, turkey quills, etc. are some of the commonly used quills for this purpose. These quills are used in a wide range of colors to make the carnival atmosphere colorful and vibrant.

The colorful and sophisticated feather costumes, props and the live dance performances give lively feel to the whole celebration and make it an unforgettable experience for everyone.