OFFICIAL CARIBANA EVENTS

In this post I want to let you all know about some of the official caribana events that will be taking place during the festival.
I got most of this from the official Caribana 2007 website http://www.caribanafestival.com/

The first event is the Caribana IMAGINE Music Festival This taking place on August 5th at Ontario Place. This is a really nice venue right down on Lake Ontario and really visitors should check it out.

Destra can be magnificent live. I saw her several times for carnival 2007 and loved watching her perform. I still have images of the Dutty wine on all fours :p

I don’t know Ne-Yo, I guess I will look on Limewire and see if I can’t educate myself

I real like Sean Paul and own a couple CDs, but I think his music, similar to Rap artists, sound really good on studio produced tracks but don’t really come across that well live. I’m sure that’s just me showing my age, those who like it will love it.

Caribana celebrates its 40th anniversary with the Imagine Music Festival. Join superstar performer Grammy Award-nominated R&B and pop singer-songwriter Ne-Yo, Grammy award winner Sean Paul, Soca Queen Destra Garcia, as they all perform together on ONE stage! Purchase your tickets by June 17th before midnight EST for your chance to win 2 backstage passes for the IMAGINE Concert.

The next big concert is Machel at Lamport Stadium on Saturday May 4th.

Machel….Nuff Said

Name: Machel Montano After Parade Bash

Location: Lamport StadiumDate: Saturday August 4, 2007

Description: de JUMBE mash up TnT…flatten NY…and now coming to Toronto. Join Machel Montano a host of other artists for a Caribana after Parade Bash at Lamport Stadium. Name: Official LaunchLocation: Nathan Phillips SquareDate: Tuesday July 10, 2007 Description: The official ceremony launches the activities for the Caribana Festival Season. Patrons can meet and mingle with federal, provincial and municipal officials, Caribana Representatives and Sponsors while sampling Caribbean and International cuisine. It is a snapshot of what’s in store over the next two weeks.

If you are in town, you should certainly check out the junior parade, the little kids are really cute. Just please make sure your older offspring are doing a nice age appropriate social wine. We don’t like to see them pelting waist and bringing scandal to your name.

Name: Junior Carnival

Location: Yorkgate MallDate: Saturday July 21, 2007

Description:Junior Carnival provides festival goers and the surrounding community the opportunity to experience the trills and joys as young masqueraders participate in their earlier festival years.

This is a new initiative that is coming out for the 40th anniversary, I’m looking forward to checking it out
Name: Theatre Activity/Cultural Singing/Dance Drumming

Location: Albert Campbell SquareDate: Sunday July 22, 2007

Description: This event will highlight the various cultures of all of the Caribbean people. It will include a food competition, Theatrical drama and story telling. The event will be held in Scarborough

This is also a new thing and I haven’t made it down to our trendy distillery district, so we will check it out also
Name: Art Exhibition

Location: Distillery

DistrictDate: Tuesday July 24, 2007 - Monday August 6, 2007

Description:A visual Art Exhibition “COLOURblind! International” produced by “The Association of African Canadian Artists” - over 60 original paintings and sculptures that have been influenced by the diversity of a people -

Name: Calypso Monarch Finals

Location: Toronto Centre for the Arts

Date: Saturday July 28, 2007 Description: This is where the Calypso Monarch is crowned. Come and see the best and biggest Canadian Calypsonians battle for the crown. From the topical to the lyrical the sweet soca rhythms will lift you out of you seat and get you moving.

Caribana Village Location: Ontario Place

Date:August 1 - August 6 , 2007

Description: As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Caribana and 200 years of the abolition of the African Slave trade, Caribana Village will highlight our liberation through song, music, dance, drama and comedy. Vendors of food, craft, clothing and art will add to the island vibe ambiance generating delectable aroma and vibrant colours to warm up Lake Ontario throughout the 5 day event.

Name: King & Queen

Location: Lamport Stadium

Date: Thursday August 2, 2007

Description: On the Thursday night before Caribana Day all the kings and queens of the bands meet to do battle. Like peacocks they will primp and preen, eliciting oh and ahs from the audience. It is an honour for any reveller to be enthroned the king or queen of his or her band. The kings and queens symbolically have the keys to the city, freedom of the streets. Their movements are supposed to be uninhibited. Band members and onlookers alike are to give them the respect, even if mockingly, usually accorded to real-life royalty."

This is a great event, and its over early enough to hit a fete after. Also for any of you people with kids, Pan alive is a kid friendly event

Name: Pan Alive

Location: Lamport StadiumDate: Friday August 3, 2007

Description: A thrilling evening showcasing the musical and tonal qualities of the steelpan as members of the Ontario Steelband Association compete before a panel of judges. This panorama of the North is the best opportunity to hear this wonderful instrument in all its glory. Devoted entirely to the capturing rhythms of the steelpan.

Name: Caribana Ball

Location: The Fairmont Royal York

Date: Friday August 3, 2007

Description: An evening of style, glamour and pomp, celebrating Caribana 40th anniversary.

Name: Parade

Location: Exhibition

PlaceDate: Saturday August 4, 2007

Description: This showcase events features an incredible display of colours and pageantry along a 3.6 kilometre parade route on Lakeshore Boulevard.

Order of the bands in the parade

-- Band Name -- Bandleader -- 2007 Presentation

1 -- Mas Toronto -- Errol Achue -- "PETIT MONDE"

2 -- Louis Saldenah Mas-K Club -- Louis Saldenah -- "THE RAINFOREST"

3 -- Toronto Revellers -- Jamaal Magloire -- "VIVA LAS VEGAS"

4 -- Carnival Nationz -- Curtis Eustace -- "BIG TOP"

5 -- The Calabash Company -- Jessie Matthews -- "THE RHYTHM OF LIFE"

6 -- Arnold Hughes & Assoc. -- Arnold Hughes -- "A QUEST FOR GOLD"

7 -- Callaloo -- Marlon Singh -- "THE CONQUEST OF ALEXANDER"

8 -- Toronto Caribbean Connection -- Mervyn Skeete -- "FUSION"

9 -- Scarborough Caribbean Sports Club -- Alvin Adore -- "REFLECTIONS 2K7"

10 -- Bazodee Connection -- Cecil & Roz Roach -- "THE ENCHANTED GARDEN OF SOCALAND"

11 -- Pleasure Players -- Whitfield Balasco -- "AMAZONIA"

12 -- Evolution Carnival -- Andre & Ken Defreitas -- "DREAMSEEKERS"

13 -- Mas Players Int'l -- Bridget Renne / Troy Logan -- "DANCING SPIRIT OF RESILIENCE"

14 -- Nip Davis & Associates -- Selwyn "Nip" Davis -- "IN FLIGHT"

15 -- Borokeete Canada -- Frank Ramsaroop -- "ATLANTIS"

16 -- Tribal Knights -- Dexter Seusahai -- "TRIBAL KNIGHTS" And the "Beat" continues - JAZZ

Location: Distillery District

Date: Thursday August 9, 2007 - Sunday August 12, 2007

Description: Jazz extension to the traditional carnival type events. The event will be held the week after Caribana in conjunction with the Nu Jazz Society and featuring the vibes of Caribbean Jazz.

Camp Carnival

Camp Carnival http://www.campcarnival.org/index.html

This is a new initiative that I just heard about, I got this e-mail advertising tickets for a fete and they mentioned that part proceeds are going to support this group.

It is sort of a summer day camp for students exposing them to Carnival culture

It hasn’t launched yet, but it really sounds like a great concept. Check out the link, they have a pretty cool website

Our MissionThrough activities rooted in the Caribana Festival, Camp Carnival aims to provide at-risk youth of Toronto with novel, intensely engaging opportunities to gain artistic experience, while facilitating personal growth, life-skill development, community reinforcement and cultural participation.
What Is Camp Carnival?
Camp Carnival is the first-ever, youth-focused, not-for-profit educational program promoting the Caribbean-inspired phenomenon that is the Toronto Carnival (Caribana) Festival. Camp Carnival takes advantage of the great excitement Caribana stirs in youth and uses it as a tool for demonstrating the importance of the arts.
Program StructureCamp Carnival is scheduled to run from June 2nd to August 5th, intensifying the highly anticipated Caribana 40th anniversary festivities.
During this initial pilot project, We Makin’ Mas, fifteen (15) youth will participate in a series of educational workshops and experience first-hand, the process of making mas. Mas, a shortened form of ‘masquerade’, is a colloquial term referring to the costumes worn by revellers during the Caribana parade.
The creation of big mas, extravagant, float-like costumes is deemed by many to be the creative pinnacle of the Caribana festivities. Under the guidance of experienced mas practitioners, youth will be involved in all stages of creating big mas, from conception to design, planning, construction and performance. Youth will have the opportunity to experience the thrill of showcasing their collaborative work at high-profile Caribana events.

I pulled all this from their site, I really think it is a concept worth supporting.

Laters
Trini-in-Toronto

Louis Saldenah band launch

Louis Saldenah band launch

Well, Saldenah is one of our veteran Mas men in Toronto. He has been making Mas in Toronto for more than 25 years and has won band of the year 15 times. Considering Caribana has only been around 40 years (this year) that’s quite a feat.

Every time I have played mas (about 12 times) in Toronto, it has been with Saldenah. I was 18 when I moved back to Canada after living 10 years in Trinidad and I was pretty homesick. It was 1989 and the Caribbean scene in T.O. was nothing like it is now. Today, from the time Easter starts to the end of September, you can’t go 3 weeks without a major Caribbean artist having a show. And if you are looking of a DJ soca jam, you can pretty much find one any weekend.
I used to have to wake up really early on Monday Mornings to listed to community radio to listen to “Ras Rico I” spin soca tracks. Today we have Caribbean programming everyday on Community radio and Dr Jay has a program on a commercial radio station.

Back when I first played mas with Saldenah, I was attracted because I had friends in the band and I can’t remember if he was there the very first time I played, but for many years David Rudder would perform. Back in those days, I was a Rudder Stalker, Anytime he performer I would be there, I would go to an afternoon/evening boat cruise on Lake Ontario, take in the show, drive home, shower, change and drive back downtown to see him perform again at the Bamboo club.
But this post is supposed to be about the band launch….

Since that time, Traffic featuring Sherwayne Winchester has now become Saldenahs band of choice for the road. (Don’t know who they have this year yet, I will let you know after the launch.) Over the years I recognize a lot of the same faces year after year playing in the band, it’s a really nice atmosphere. With multiple generations of masqueraders jumping together. I was planning on pulling some more history on him for this post from his website, but they have closed it until after the launch http://www.saldenahcarnival.com/

I have some family commitments this Weekend so I won’t be hitting the launch, but I hope to get some pics and I will put them up. If push comes to shove I might have t borrow some from http://www.toronto-lime.com/ or Saucy http://www.saucytrini.blogspot.com/

Sunday night we are going to hit Soca or Die 6.
I’ll let you all know how it was after the fete.

Laters people

Trini-in-Toronto