Caribana
 |
|
| Abbreviation | TCC |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1967 |
| Type | Cultural festival |
| Legal status | Active, non-profit |
| Purpose | Celebration of Caribbean heritage |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Location |
|
|
Official language
|
English, French |
|
CEO
|
Denise Herrera-Jackson |
|
Parent organization
|
Festival Management Committee |
| Affiliations | City of Toronto, Toronto Mas Bands Association [2], Ontario Steelpan Association |
|
Budget
|
CA$1.2 million |
|
Staff
|
12 |
|
Volunteers
|
1,000+ |
| Website | |
The Toronto Caribbean Carnival, formerly and still commonly called Caribana, is a festival of Caribbean culture and traditions held each summer in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a Caribbean Carnival event, that has been billed as North America's largest street festival, frequented by over 1.3 million visitors each year for the festival's final parade and an overall attendance of 2 million.
The festival was introduced to Canada by immigrants from Caribbean Islands. Much of the music associated with the event, such as steel pan, soca and calypso. Caribana reflects the Carnival events that take place in several Caribbean Islands, such as the Caribbean Islands Carnival. The entire event, which is one of the first Caribbean Carnivals along with those in New York City, Notting Hill and Boston to be held outside of the Caribbean region, brings in over one million people to Toronto and over $400 million into Ontario's economy, annually.
Following a trademark law dispute between the original operators of the festival, who still owned the Caribana name, and the current organizers, the festival was renamed Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival in May 2011. In 2016, the name was changed to "Toronto Caribbean Festival" after Scotiabank ended its sponsorship.
While the Caribbean Festival holds events over several weeks, the culmination of the Caribana event is the final weekend which is punctuated by the street Parade of Bands. This weekend traditionally coincides with the Ontario statutory holiday Civic Holiday. The street Parade of Bands consists of costumed dancers (called "Mas players") along with live Caribbean music being played from large speakers on the flat-bed of 18 wheeler trucks. The genre played is mainly soca calypso, and steelpan, but you can also find floats which play chutney and reggae.
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