Origins Caribana has run annually since 1967, first performed as a gift from Canada's Caribbean community, as a tribute to
Canada's Centennial. Billing itself as a multicultural nation, the Canadian government invited ethno-cultural groups to contribute celebrations with representations of their ethnic diversity. Caribana emerged during a time when many Caribbean residents emigrated to Canada following immigration reform, internationally acclaimed singers were popularizing Caribbean music (for example
Harry Belafonte sang to a sold-out crowd at the
O'Keefe Centre in Toronto),
Civil Rights Movement activities including the Canadian visits by
Malcolm X and
Martin Luther King Jr., and
Muhammad Ali's fight against the Canadian heavyweight champion
George Chuvalo. Following the carnival format, particularly that of the
Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, Caribana's Caribbean influences include traditions from many of the islands:
Jonkunnu in Jamaica,
Crop Over in Barbados, and other similar festivals in Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Caribana also taps into the legacy of the pre-Lenten Calypso Carnival celebrations organized by the
Canadian Negro Women's Organization (CANEWA) and headed by
Kay Livingstone. The founding organizers' goal of using festival profits to create a Black community centre remain unfulfilled.
Administrative history Plans for the first Caribana began in February 1966, when a group from Toronto's West Indian community came together in an abandoned firehall on Bathurst Street and formed a celebration for Canada's centennial. The group, originally named the Caribbean Centennial Committee, transformed into the Caribbean Committee for Cultural Advancement (CCAC) in 1968 when they decided that the event should be an annual celebration. One year later, the CCAC incorporated as the Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC). This group consisted of ten individuals
Charles Roach and
Julius Alexander Isaac (the first Black judge of the Federal Court of Appeal) were among the community leaders who organized the first Caribana. By 1980, the two organizing committees came together and the CCC once again was the sole organizing committee of Caribana. During this decade, the competing interests of the Metro police, city officials, and the corporate sponsors of Caribana threatened to overshadow the CCC's leadership. For example, in 1985, the police recommended moving the popular Olympic Island picnic event to the mainland but the picnics continued until 2009. In 1991, the Caribana parade was moved to Exhibition Place and Lakeshore Boulevard. Previously, participants jumped up and played mas down Yonge Street or University Avenue on their way to the Toronto Islands. As the festival became a permanent annual event, the festival organization became dependent on borrowing money from the City of Toronto prior to the festival, to be repaid out of festival profits (if any) afterwards. By 1992, the festival had built up a debt to the city. The City of Toronto forgave the entire outstanding debt after the 1992 event. The same year, Caribana developed a new partnership with Toronto-area hotels. In 1993, the organization fired its operating chief. Following
Puff Daddy's performance in 1997, many observers raised concerns regarding cultural retention and festival organizers' moral-cultural responsibility. At launch in
Nathan Phillips Square, Premier
Bob Rae calls the event a "beacon of hope" for all Canadians, as a symbol of racial harmony. "Carry a Can to Caribana" launched, in support of
Daily Bread Food Bank. With attendance down, the board chair blamed the federal and provincial tourism ministries for not funding their American advertising campaign. In 1997, the bandleaders threatened to boycott the parade if they were not paid for the year's previous festival and provided with the necessary seed-money to fund production for 1997. The bandleaders were organized under the Ontario Mas Producers Association (OMPA) and the Toronto Mas Makers Association (TMMA). The OMPA would become the Toronto Mas Band Association (TMBA) in 2000. By the early 2000s, several organizations formed which represented different groups involved in Caribana. The TMBA oversaw the making and promotion of mas bands and represented their interests. The Ontario Steelpan Association (OSA), organized in 2002, did the same for the steelpan musicians. These associations, which also included the Ontario Calypso Performing Artistes (OCPA), formed in 1981, became key stakeholders in Caribana. In 2001, the City of Toronto granted permits for the TMBA to organize the parade. In 2002, the parade and king and queen crowning were also organized by the TMBA. The following year, the CCC was again the sole organizer of Caribana's events. In September 2004, after the 37th festival, the
consul general of Trinidad and Tobago worked with Caribbean Cultural Committee to increase support from the business community; the committee received around that year from the national, provincial, and city governments, but it cost about twice that to run the festival. In 2006, the
City of Toronto government, unsatisfied by the CCC's financial audit report, invited the TMBA to apply for funding to operate and manage Caribana for 2006. In the end, a city-appointed committee, the Festival Management Committee (FMC), in arrangement with the CCC board members, agreed to organize Caribana for one year. The proposed structure of the FMC's board of directors was to include: two representatives from the TMBA, one representative from the OSA, one representative from the CPA, and seven additional members chosen by the festival's stakeholders, including the CCC. The Caribana Arts Group (CAG), which succeeded the CCC in 2005, applied but was denied funding to resume its organization of Caribana. In 2006, the FMC board included two members of the CAG; however, both representatives withdrew from the board in 2010. Due to an ongoing dispute about the ownership of the trademark "Caribana," the 2006 festival was promoted as "the Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana)". In 2009, the festival was advertised as the "Scotiabank Caribana Festival" which resulted in a trademark lawsuit from CAG, as Caribana was trademarked in 1977, following unsuccessful attempts to reach a licensing agreement. As the successor organization of the CCC, the CAG is the trademark holder to "Caribana." Following the settlement of the trademark infringement in 2011, the festival's name was changed to "Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival." The name changed to "Toronto Caribbean Carnival" in 2015 when Scotiabank discontinued their sponsorship. In 2019 UNESCO the Canadian Commission officially recognizes the festival and names it a Cultural heritage property.
Naming dispute The name Caribana was invented by the organizers to capture the notions of Canada, the Caribbean, bacchanal and merrymaking. In 2011, the Ontario Superior Court Of Justice ruled that the Caribana Arts Group (CAG), the successors of Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC), has legal rights to the name Caribana.
Sponsorship The first named festival sponsor was
Scotiabank (
Scotiabank Caribana from 2007 to 2011 and
Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival from 2011 to 2015). In October 2015, Scotiabank announced that it would end its sponsorship with Toronto's Caribbean Carnival parade after six years. The festival continued without a naming sponsor until 2017, when Peeks became the new title sponsor and the festival became the Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival. In June 2019, Peeks' title sponsorship was removed and the festival was called the Toronto Caribbean Carnival for 2019.
COVID-19 alternative formats The 2020 and 2021 editions of the event were cancelled because of the global
COVID-19 pandemic; consequently, it took place in a "virtual format" on July 3, 2020. In order to accommodate restrictions during the pandemic during the summer of 2021, the festival pivoted to a foodie event with steel pans and masqueraders and replaced the grande parade with a food truck festival. == Economics and impact ==