Caribana Takes Over T.O.

Jump up, jump up and get down!


Caribana officially kicked off at 10am on Saturday, starting the largest Caribbean festival in North America, second in the world only to Trinidad and Tobago. And when the sun began to fade Saturday afternoon, the parading was done for another year, though the partying had only just begun.


Celebrating 40 years in Toronto, residents, visitors and parade-goers danced and walked the parade route down Lake Shore Blvd. in the scorching sun Saturday, Jumping Up in record numbers.


After a judging at 10am the parade made its way to Dunn Ave. and drivers are reminded that the Lake Shore will be closed from Strachan Ave. to Colborne Lodge Drive until just after 6am Sunday for cleanup.


The 2007 edition of the parade was the biggest yet, with more than one million people involved, including more dancers (25,000) and more and larger floats (42) than ever before. There was also a sense of history surrounding this year's festivities, with many in the mix who had been around since the festival's humble beginnings.


"My mother put me in a costume when I was two and a half and I feel great," said one reveler.


"I've been pulling these big costumes for 20 years," added another.


And of course there were the newcomers, taken by the endless sea of colours, music and dancing.


"The costumes, the floats, the trouble that they take, it's out of this world for us," said first-time visitor Vera Correra. "It's beautiful, it knows to enjoy, it's a party place and they go all the way," she added in reference to the host city.


Countries from all around the world, including the U.S., Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana and even as far as India, were represented both in the parade and in the captive yet extremely active audience, and their presence is also noted for providing a much-needed jump start to the city's tourism industry. It's a boost of roughly $300 million to be more precise, a fact not lost on Toronto Mayor David Miller and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who were both on hand.


"Everybody comes out to Caribana, but it's a great gift of the Caribeean community to Toronto," Miller said.


And when the parading was done, the partying started. The official afterparty was held at Lamport Stadium, where a concert lineup laden with Caribbean greats had music fans out of their seats, but all across T.O. tourists and townsfolk alike were expected to celebrate well into the wee hours of Sunday morning. A final Caribana concert is also planned for Sunday night at the Molson  Amphitheatre.


Check out our Caribana centre and our In The Raw feature for video footage of the bumpin' weekend.


For more sights and sounds from Saturday, click on the video links.


Caribana Starts With Winners