Sway and Feel De Vibe

Sway, Canada's black lifestyle magazine, has started to go national with this annual Caribana issue. It will now be available across Canada in 150 Chapters and Indigo (and other) stores. The cover story is an interesting interview with Jamaal Magloire (Toronto Revellers). There is also a great retrospective of Caribana's past, from the 90's back to the 60's. Oh, and check out the e-pan!

One of the People with Sway featured is Nurse Karen from FLOW 93.5 FM. Way to flow Karen! The Official Caribana Guide is also out, with cover model Naomi Cowan, host of SBCTV.
She's modeling Tribal Knight's African Lilac Breast quite well. The stylized glossy mag gives us a look at Calypso as storytelling, Mas Hysteria, and a feature on Curtis Eustace's King of Carnival wins. You can get your copy at any of the Caribana events.

Toronto Revellers 2009 band launch

Toronto Revellers held their upscale band launch Brazil…Bacchanal in Rio at the newly renovated Events & Catering on the Park. The venue was certainly a decent departure from most launch/fete locations. There were no line-ups getting in or out, and none of that pushing & shoving crowding around the stage. The $25 (at the door) ticket included parking. The show started 11:30 and Jamaal Magloire gave a short speech thanking everyone for their support, and assured the crowd things would be top notch all the way. A Capoeira Brazilian martial-arts dance group opened the show, followed by Brazilian Samba dancers.

Brazilian Samba dancer

This fuchsia frontline is my favourite. Now I know what people will say, comparisons will be made to that fabulous frontline fuchsia Trini Carni costume. Sometimes people can't help but start in on who-designed-what-first & who-is-stealing-from-who, blah, blah, blah. We all know every carnival gets inspiration from, and elements, pieces, feathers, & jewels from other carnivals - especially when they use the same suppliers - that's just the reality.

I like the headpiece & bra on this lime one.

It's a modest Bacchanal in Rio, no Carnaval inspired thongs or cage bras. They didn't go the traditional route with creatures or animals either.

The big door prize was airfare to Miami carnival. Revellers cater to a slightly more mature crowd that appreciates fine customer service and heightened security. There was a small line-up after to register and costumes are $150.

Caribana groups reach out to youth

A lot of the Caribana's critics argue that we have been putting on a festival in this city for 40 years now and all we do is party and jump and wave and at the end of the day we have nothing to show for it.
So when I see a mainstream publication writting an article that put Caribana and its organizers in a positive light I wanted to show it to you bloggers living outside of the city. Enjoy...

This is an article I pulled from one of our daily papers in Toronto called 24 hours
The article was written by SOPHIE NICHOLLS

It's not just about celebrating music, dance and culture, it's about building for the future.
More than a dozen community groups across the city have united to reach out to Toronto's youth during the 40th annual Caribana festival.
Several programs and events including arts camps, workshops and employment opportunities during this year's festival are working to empower young people between 16 and 24 years old, encouraging them to believe in themselves and pursue their dreams.
"We are going to try to make this happen and change the world," said NBA star Jamaal Magloire at the Eaton Centre Thursday, where community leaders and politicians announced the festival's new initiative. "These are only small steps ... we have to keep it going year after year."
The highlight for more than 500 youths selected by the 16 organizations will be the Imagine Music festival on Aug. 4 when they will receive a free day pass to Ontario Place, the official Caribana Village and a ticket to an evening concert featuring R&B and pop singer-songwriter Ne-Yo and Grammy award winner Sean Paul.

Caribana Official launch

Caribana Festival 2007 has officially launched downtown at Nathan Phillips Square on Tuesday. Politicians, sponsors and representatives attended the event, but the crowd was really there to check out the costumes.

Mas bands that participated were Bazodee Connection, Callaloo, Jessie Matthews, Toronto Caribbean Connection, Toronto Revellers, Scarborough Caribbean Sports Club, Mas Toronto, and Tribal Knights. Hummingbird Tassa Drummers and the Munthadi International Drummers were among the performers. Good to see Mervyn, Bootsman & Courtnay!
I'm very impressed with new band Tribal Knights extremely well designed vibrant costumes (first two pictures below) http://www.tribalknights.com/