Caribana

Caribana is the largest Caribbean festival in North America and attracts over a million visitors to Toronto annually.

Caribana has been around for over 40 years and is modeled after Caribbean carnival. Technically, the entire celebration is two weeks long and consists of a number of different cultural events. However, when most people refer to Caribana, they’re speaking about the parade, which takes place on the first Saturday in August on Lake Shore Blvd. from 10 am to 6 pm.

Throughout the week, Torontonians and visitors alike have the pleasure of experiencing many Caribana-related activities, such as Junior Carnival, the King and Queen competition or a number of free concerts.

During the parade attendees will see various Mas Camps (“mas” being short for “masquerade”) as they dance down the street in vibrant costumes to various African disaporic rhythms, such as Trinidadian calypso, Jamaican reggae and even Brazilian samba.

At night, the younger crowd usually heads out to any of the various over-priced parties hosted by international celebrities (it’s better to buy tickets in advance as prices generally skyrocket at the door). If you don’t want to pay $60 for a passing glance at P. Diddy over in the VIP section, another option is to head to the Yonge Street “meat market” at night to people watch for free. Olympic Island on Sunday afternoon is a family-oriented day of great music and good food, and a lovely way to close out Caribana for another year.

Location:
Toronto, Canada

Other Activity

Price Description: The parade is free.

Relative price: Budget

Travel Skills: None