Caribana organizers unveil festival's official program
Roster of corporate and government sponsors also on board
The organizers of the 41st annual Caribana Festival are promising this summer's event will be bigger and better than ever.
This year's festival, which runs July 15 to Aug. 3, will feature many new activities, while retaining many well-known favourites such as the parade on Lake Shore Boulevard West from the CNE grounds to Parklawn Avenue on Saturday, Aug. 2, the always-popular King and Queen Show at Lamport Stadium on Thursday, July 31 and the Junior Carnival at Shoreham Drive/Yorkgate Mall on Saturday, July 19.
Caribana will also include Luminat'eau: Carnival H2O (formerly Carnivalissima) from June 13 to 15 at Harbourfront Centre as well as the Scotiabank Caribana Gala on July 25 at the Liberty Grand.
COLOURblind International: Roots to Rhythm, a new visual art exhibition featuring Caribbean and African artists, is set to run from July 24 to Aug. 4 at the Royal Ontario Museum.
The Kaiso 365 Calypso Monarch Finals, a competition that crowns the best Canadian Calypsonians, takes place Saturday, July 26 at the Leah Posluns Theatre, 4588 Bathurst St.
Also making a return this year is the Pan Alive on Aug. 1 at Lamport Stadium, De Caribana Lime-Island Festival on Olympic Island Aug. 2 and 3 and the Calypso Tents Music Series, a showcase of Canada's best original calypso and soca music. The series, which will run three nights each week from June 13 to July 13, takes place at De Great Iron Pot, 55 Nugget Ave. in Scarborough and Calypso City, 25 Cecil St.
The festival's management committee has also retained a roster of corporate and government sponsors.
For starters, organizers have entered into a multi-year title partnership with Scotiabank, meaning that the summertime cultural event will now be known as the Scotiabank Caribana Festival.
The provincial Ministry of Tourism, Heritage Canada, the City of Toronto, Tourism Toronto, the Ontario Trillium Corporation, Enable Consultants, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and Bryer's Ice Cream - Unilever are also lending their support to the festival.
Caribana, launched in 1967 as a way to mark Toronto's centennial, now pumps more than $300 million into the city's economy. The event is the largest festival of its kind in North America drawing more than a million people to Toronto each summer.
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