On
Saturday, July 30, 2011, the Workers of olour Caucus will be at this
year's Caribana festival in Toronto with the OPSEU Caribana float and a
live DJ, music, costumes, food and refreshments.
The float will follow the Caribana
parade route and will be accompanied by "Louis Saldenah Mas-K Club",
fifteen-time winner of "Band of the Year". Music will be provided by
OPSEU's own DJ--"inVINCEable int'l"-with special guest, all the way from
Trinidad and Tobago, "OB" from Crosby Sounds.
We invite all OPSEU members to join
us in celebrating Caribana!
Download event flyer
Caribana is a celebration of literal and spiritual emancipation
Caribana
celebrations have existed in Canada since 1967, and were originally staged
as a gift from Canada's Caribbean community, in tribute to Canada's
centennial. Toronto’s Caribana, like other Caribbean festivals around the
world, is more than just a party. It is a breaking down of the artificial
barriers in society - like class, race and wealth. It is a celebration of
Caribbean culture, food, creativity, art, music and history including the
ethnic and social make-up of the islands: people of African descent (both
slaves and free): French plantation owners; East Indian and Chinese
indentured labourers; British, Spanish and “Creole” settlers and the
indigenous Indians.
Toronto’s
Caribana is generally perceived to be based on Trinidad and Tobago’s
Carnival. Before slavery was abolished in 1834, Trinidad's Carnival
celebrations had two aspects: the torches, drumming and other
African-derived ceremonies of the slave classes; and the fancy-dress silks
and satins of the European plantation owners. Often, the French monsieurs
and madames would dress as fantastical versions of their own slaves, while
the slaves would parody the plantation owners.
After
emancipation, former slaves, under the concealment of disguise, brought
their dances, songs and festival traditions to the streets, recreating, in
symbolic ways, the freedom from the "cane fields"...from slavery.
Toronto's
Caribana Festival falls on the anniversary of the emancipation from slavery
in Trinidad, August 1, 1834, and also marks the date of a European festival
celebrating the first loaf of the New Year's wheat and the opening of the
fields for common pasturage. Carnival and Caribana have evolved from this to
masquerade bands competing for top honours called “Band of the Year”,
reflecting the diverse expressive traditions of the Caribbean. The bands
must pass a judging point in which each band section is rated for its
costume design, the energy of masqueraders, creativity of presentation--to
name just a few judging standards.
Caribana has
also grown from hundreds of particiants parading on Yonge St. in the late
60’s; to thousands on University Avenue in the 80‘s and 90’s; to one of
Canada’s major tourist attractions with over a million participating on
Lakeshore Boulevard today. While Caribana runs for 2 weeks, its climax is
the Parade of the bands on the final weekend of the festival.
Once again,
on Saturday July 30, 2011, the Workers Of Colour Caucus is putting OPSEU
into North America’s largest festival of Caribbean culture--Caribana.
With Louis
Saldenah Mas-k Club, the sixteenth time “Band of the Year” winner which last
year included OPSEU’s participation, we are showing OPSEU the “SECRETS OF
THE OUTER LIMITS”, which is the theme of this band in 2011. WOCC will join
the Xpats section with blue, silver and black to represent OPSEU’s main
colours, in a portrayal of “Halley’s Comet”. Starting in the CNE grounds, “chipping”(rhythmically
walking to music) down the Lakeshore, music will be provided by OPSEU's own,
Vince Gobind aka "inVINCEable int'l" with special guest, all the way from
Trinidad and Tobago, "OB" from Crosby Sounds.
For more
information about Caribana, please
download the flyer
