Limin at Ontario Place

Shurwayne Winchester

To de right, to de right, to de right...

Salah's Steelpan Academy

Structure

Bahamas band

Scotiabank Caribana held another great lime at Ontario Place on Sunday and Monday. We were impressed with the addition of the Grace Tropical Rhythms Caribbean Food Festival. The food samples from celebrity chefs from Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Antigua & Barbuda, Guyana, St. Lucia and Cuba were delicious. The Grace giveaways (Crix, hot sauce, etc.) were a nice treat and appreciated by the crowd. Shurwayne Winchester got the small, but enthusiastic crowd worked up, and throughout the afternoon there were wonderful performances by Salah's and Silver Stars. Every year, I really like this Caribana wind down, even though techincally it's not the end of our jumping up, we've got two more carnivals!!

Macomere Fifi wins!!! Welcome to your CALYPSO YEARS

Attending the Kaiso 365 Calypso Monarch finals last night reminded me of those Carlsberg commercials. They showed men leaving behind the beer they drank in college to graduate to their Carlsberg years. I guess in Trinidad, it would be the shift from rum and coke to scotch and coconut water.
I hadn't visited one of our local calypso tents before, and the last time I could remember really paying attention to this type of Calypso was when I was a boy, and was too young to go and lime with my friends in town. I used to sit with my family and watch the Dimanche Gras competion.
I had a very good time last night. The performers went all out and even used props or had people doing skits before their performances to help drive their message home. It was nostalgic without being stale or seeming old fashioned. The topics were current and relevant, there was lots of humor, with lyrics to make a politician cringe, or turn a woman's body into jelly ;)
I know lots of our readers are our age or younger, and our experience of Mas is BBF (bikini, beads and feathers) and for the most part, live Trini music is Soca and Pan.
But, there is MORE. And the Calypso scene in Toronto is strong and vibrant and is well worth you giving it a look. So get your posse together for something different and hit a Calypso tent. You still have time check out HERE for more shows before Caribana.

WELCOME TO YOUR CALYPSO YEARS!!!

Maocomere Fifi, last night's big Monarch winner. She won Best Lyrics, Melody, Presentation, Vocal Rendition, Most Original Calypso, Arrangement and Peoples Choice.









Pictured below (in the order they performed): Naki, Smokey, Structure, DeCarra, The Web, Redman, Penshioner, Guney.

Scotiabank Toronto Caribana Lime and Grace 2010 -

Ok, so, I am awake and have survived another Caribana parade. My feet hurt, my back is a little tight, and I'm feeling hungry, but I'm not making any breakfast....any idea why? Because we are heading down to the Caribana lime at Ontario Place where we plan to eat until we can't eat any more at the Grace Tropical rhythms Caribbean food festival. Did I mention that food is FREE with admission to the lime?

It costs $19.10 for adults and $12.64 for seniors. Plus, there will be music and entertainment and a good family vibe. And its a beautiful day to come chill by the lake. Did I mention free food?
Here are all the details

This August 1^st and 2^nd, Ontario Place will be hosting De Scotiabank Caribana Lime presented by OLG. It is two days of music, dance, culture and food including a Sunday Grace Kennedy food festival and performances by Trinidad’s Silver Stars, the world’s best steel drum orchestra. In total there will be 35 acts performing on stage including Roy Cape, Macomoremere Fifi, Iwer George and Jay Douglas during the lime.

De Scotiabank Caribana Lime (noon – 8pm) is expected to draw 20,000 people on the Sunday and Monday following the Scotiabank Caribana parade. The annual “last lap” for the Festival has a number of new attractions including a Caribbean Food Festival staged by Grace Kennedy Foods on Sunday August 1^st. Visitors can sample for free, Caribbean food dishes prepared by Grace Kennedy foods.

On August 1^st, Grace Food’s presents the first annual "Tropical Rhythms” Caribbean Food Festival as part of De Scotiabank Caribana Lime. The goal of the event is to give visitors a taste of Caribbean culture as the Caribbean Islands come together to Feel De Vibe.

Tropical Rhythms will provide a dazzling array of fun activities, entertainment and excitement for the entire family. Enjoy exotic cuisine prepared by gourmet Caribbean chefs. Jump into some Jamaican style Jerk Chicken, Relax with Roti from Trinidad and Tobago and quench your thirst with Grace coconut water. There will be food pavilions with mouth watering delights and over at the Lime, an on-going stage presentation all day with the best in local and international music and dance troupes and a few special extras!

Scheduled to appear at Ontario Place on Sunday August 1^st are over two dozen performers including Bahamian Junkanoo Dancers, Salahpan, Roy Cape, Nikeisha, Tallpree, Iwer, Moses Revolution and Macomere Fifi, Trinidad’s Silver Stars have won top international steel drum competitions and are considered the best steel drum orchestra in the world.

De Scotiabank Caribana Lime is a family-oriented event and is another opportunity to gather or “lime” as Toronto celebrates the Caribbean culture in food, song and dance. On Monday, performers include Café Cubano, Neu Jenarashum, the winner of the Calypso Monarch Contest, Redman (last year’s Calypso Monarch Contest winner), Caribbean Folk Performers Dance Group, Jay Douglas and The All Stars, Roy Cape, Iwer George, Nnika and the Silver Stars.

Check out this video I pulled from the Scotiabank Caribana website

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Saldenah's Mas K Club wins band of the year 2010!!!!!!!

I want to wish the whole Saldenah family (Louis calls us all family) congratulations on their 16th Band of the Year win.
Once I saw the sexy costumes at the launch, I knew they were going to have a good year. Then they pulled position 3, & I knew they would have a REALLY GOOD year.
After a few weeks Ronny started talking on his Blog about numbers. He said that the band was at 1700 members and they were aiming for 2000. I thought, that's pretty ambitious. That's 300 new people only a few weeks before Caribana. Many bands struggle to get 300 members at all. The final tally was 2,700 masqueraders. That is unheard of in Canada. (I believe the previous record was set by Nationz at about 1,700.)
The thing that really impresses me is that they accomplished this facing stiff competition from Carnival Nationz, Tribal Knights had JW and Blaze and Toronto Revellers had Machel Montano.
Maybe you all could help me out in understanding how they drew this crowd.

If you aren't a regular Saldenah masquerader and you played with them this year, what made you choose them? Was it :
The costumes?
The reputation or the crowd it attracts?
Your friends were playing with them?
The position in the parade?
You weren't happy with your experience in another band last year?

If I have to answer this question, I was originally drawn to the band years ago when David Rudder used to sing on their music truck. As time went on, I made friends with many section leaders, many of whom have gone on to start their own bands. (Did you know that 7 of the 14 bands in this years parade are led by bandleaders who were former section leaders in Mas K club?) And now, there are all these familiar faces and characters we see every year, its a nice vibe.
Congrats again, and thanks for a great time on the road today. We will post a bunch of pics soon, but we have to run now.

Also, I have to give a big Congratulations to Thea Jackson and her brand new band Tru Dynasty, who tied for 1st position in the B&C category with Mas Players International. This was her very first year. Somebody can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe this means that they will be promoted to Category A status and they will be going down the road next year in one of the top 8 positions. Congrats, for your first year, you certainly made a name for yourselves.


Laters

Trini-in-Toronto

CARIBANA 2010 BAND OF THE YEAR RESULTS:

A Category Band of the Year:
1. Saldenah Mas K (446 points)
2. Carnival Nationz (426)
3. Toronto Revellers (422)

B&C Category Band of the Year:
1. (tie) Mas Players Int'l (378 points)
1. (tie) Tru Dynasty (378)
3. Fantazia International (371)

King and Queen Pictures 2010

These are our Pictures from the King and Queen Contest last night at Lamport Stadium

As always, the sold out crowd was not disappointed. The costumes were beautiful.

I didn't label the costumes, because I don't know all the names and I don't want to label for some and leave out the rest.

Tribal Knights took King of Carnival, while Saldenah took Queen, and both male and female individuals and the new Ontario Science Centre innovation award for D' Chandelier.

Go Michelle!