The atmosphere was electrifying — the type that moves through your body and causes your hips to sway to the beat — during the Grande Parade at Toronto’s annual Caribbean Carnival.
“Just by looking, you see a community, you see love, you see dancing and you see fun,” said Michelle Tanner, a reveller who took to Lakeshore Boulevard and made the street her stage.
Toronto’s Caribbean Carnival, held since the late 1960s, is billed as North America’s largest street festival, attracting more than 1.3 million people each year from around the globe.
“I can’t believe how much colour there is. It just makes you so happy and bubbly and excited,” said Veronica Kulinska, who is visiting Ontario’s capital from Sarnia.
“I am just so impressed,” added her sister, Karolina Kulinska. “I can’t believe how creative they are. It’s our first time.”
The parade caps off more than three weeks of celebrating culture, food, music and heritage. It’s an all-out spectacle as many lined the streets to take in the vibrant colours and glitz.
“We get the making of the costumes as far as sewing the material done outside, and then they’re sent to us and we work on geming them, feathering the backpacks,” said Grace Udoh, a volunteer and organizer with the event.
“The whole production process probably takes about two to two and a half months.”
And it appears Toronto knows how to put on a party, as the street festival celebrates 52 years and counting.
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