| CARIBANA |  | Toronto Carribbean Carnival, or Caribana in short, is one of the largest street festivals in North America. It begins in mid Summer and lasts for several weeks culminating in a magnificent parade on the first Saturday in August. The festival is filled with music, cuisine, revelry as well as visual and performing arts. It is a major Toronto event drawing hundreds of thousands of tourists and pumping millions into the local economy.
Caribana was introduced in 1967 as part of Canada's Centennial celebrations. It is based on a similar event in Trinidad which has a much older tradition reaching back to the times of slavery. Toronto's version has been growing over the years and now also represents culture of Jamaica, Guyana, Brazil, Dominica, Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas. This diversity is best represented at the parade itself where thousands of ''Mas players'' or costumed masqueraders jam to the rythm of Calypso, Soca, Reggae, Hip Hop and Chutney. Live Soca, Steel Pan and Brass Bands artists carried on truck flat beds add to the variety as do rap and R&B performers. Most of the participants are divided into bands which actually compete with each other in costume design and performance.
Despite growth the festival has not lost its flavor and the parade remains a magnificent display of Carribbean folklore. Being a true multicultural city, Toronto is a perfect place for such a popular cultural event and even more growth is anticipated in the future.
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 | Caribana 2008
The 41st year of Caribana proves once again how important of an event this is for the city. With questions surrounding the financial condition of the carnival, various levels of government, Scotiabank as well as businesses joined to make this dazzling street party possible, yet again. |
|  | Caribana 2007
In spite of sweltering heat, more than 1.5 million people gathered along the Lakeshore Boulevard to watch a dazzling parade. One of the most successful events ever! |
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