Scotiabank
Caribana Festival 2008 summer program schedule announced
New partners, events, dates
and venues will help make the 41st anniversary of the festival a
success
TORONTO – Scotiabank Caribana’s Festival Management Committee
announced the official summer program and list of new corporate sponsors to
participate in the 2008 Scotiabank Caribana, the largest cultural festival of
its kind in North America. The 2008 Program
will include new festivities as well as favourites of the past. In March, Scotiabank celebrated a new
multi-year partnership with the festival, resulting in title sponsorship of the
Caribana Festival.
If one looks at the median age of people living in Toronto, the vast
majority are too young to remember a time when there wasn’t a Caribana Parade,”
said Festival Management chair, Joe Halstead. We have become a national
tradition. Thanks to the support of Scotiabank, that tradition will not only continue,
it will grow and flourish!”
This year is expected to surpass the celebrations of all previous years and has added a number of new events which will take place throughout the city. Many new sponsors have joined Scotiabank Caribana this year as 2008 celebrates the 41st anniversary of the festival. Included are title sponsor Scotiabank, CBC, the Toronto Sun, the Royal Ontario Museum, Hudson Bay Corporation, Grace Kennedy Foods, Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, State Farm Insurance and the Liberty Grande.
“Scotiabank Caribana makes our community richer as we celebrate the diversity of this great city,” said Christine Williams, Scotiabank District Vice-President, Toronto East.
“At Scotiabank, we continue to build our efforts to meet the unique needs of Canada’s diverse and multicultural communities by engaging in partnerships with Western Union, sponsorships with Cricket Canada, and given our extensive presence in the Caribbean, the importance of Scotiabank Caribana to the City, our customers and employees – it is a natural fit for us.”
Scotiabank Caribana’s summer
program includes a series of events beginning with Luminat’eau: Carnival H2O (formerly Carnivalissima) on June 13-15; COLOURblind International, Roots to Rhythm – a visual art
exhibition on July 24 – August 4; the Scotiabank
Caribana Gala on July 25 and will close with the Scotiabank Caribana Parade and De
Caribana Lime-Island Festival on August 2 and 3rd respectively. This
landmark event is a key tourist attraction for the City of Toronto and
attracted more than 1.2 million revellers last summer.
This will be the third year that the annual event will be managed by the Festival Management Committee (FMC). The FMC’s core management team is still in place with the addition of even more specialists unified by their passion for success and culture.
Scotiabank Caribana is a cultural explosion of Caribbean music, cuisine, revelry as well as visual and performing arts. Launched in 1967 as a Centennial Project, the world famous festival has become a major international event and an expression of Toronto’s multicultural and multiracial society. The Festival is now celebrating its 41st anniversary. For more information, please visit http://www.caribanafestival.com/events.html.
Scotiabank is committed to supporting the
communities in which we live and work, both in Canada and abroad. Recognized as
a leader internationally and among Canadian corporations for its charitable
donations and philanthropic activities, in 2007 the Bank provided more than $43
million in sponsorships and donations to a variety of projects and initiatives,
primarily in the areas of healthcare, education, social services and arts and
culture. Please visit us at www.scotiabank.com.
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SEE BACKGROUNDER: 2008 PROGRAMME OF EVENTS
For more information: Livy
Feldgajer, Scotiabank public affairs 416-866-6203 or livy_feldgajer@scotiacapital.com.
Stephen Weir. Scotiabank Caribana. 416-589-5968
Stephen@stephenweir.com
Alicia Sealey Scotiabank Caribana. 416-599-0664 atchp@the-wire.com
Backgrounder:
2008 Programme of Events
I.
Luminat’eau:
Carnival H2O (formerly “Carnivalissima”)
Friday, June 13 to Sunday,
June 15, 2008 – Noon-6:00 p.m.
Harbourfront
Scotiabank Caribana is a participant in this event – a spectacular water‑themed
finale of the LuminaTO: Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity produced by LuminaTO and Harbourfront Centre.
II.
Calypso Tents Music Series
Fridays, Saturdays
& Sundays from June 13 to July 13, 2008
8:00 p.m.-Midnight
► De Great
Iron Pot, 55 Nugget Avenue, Scarborough
►
Calypso City, 25 Cecil Street, Toronto
This is an exciting
annual showcase of Canada's best Calypso and Soca original music for the
Scotiabank Caribana Festival. The
series runs three nights each week (Friday‑Sunday) at various venues in
Toronto, each night featuring a different cast of singers and 'live' bands
performing Calypso in its best storytelling tradition: social and political
commentary, humor and wit.
III.
Official Launch
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 –
Noon-2:00 p.m.
Nathan Phillips Square, City Hall
This official
ceremony launches the activities for the 2008 Scotiabank Caribana Festival
Season. Patrons can meet and mingle
with Federal, Provincial and Municipal officials, Caribana representatives and
sponsors while sampling Caribbean and international cuisine. It is a snapshot of what's in store over the
coming weeks.
IV.
Junior Carnival
Saturday, July 19, 2008 –
10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Shoreham Drive/Yorkgate Mall
Junior Carnival
provides festival-goers and the surrounding community the opportunity to
experience the thrills and joys as young masqueraders participate in their
early festival years.
V.
Art Exhibition
Thursday, July 24 to
Monday, Aug 4, 2008 – Noon-9:00 p.m.
Royal Ontario Museum
A Visual Art Exhibition – COLOURblind International – ‘Roots to Rhythm’ produced by the Association of African Canadian Artists. An intriguing collection of over 60 works that have been influenced by our journey will be on display.
VI.
Scotiabank Caribana Gala
Friday, July 25, 2008 –
6:30 p.m.–1:00 a.m.
Liberty Grand – Exhibition Place
An elegant evening
of style and glamour celebrating Caribana and paying tribute to its
pioneers. Proceeds from this event will
be directed to a Caribana Foundation.
VII.
‘Kaiso 365’ Calypso Monarch Finals
Saturday, July 26, 2008 –
7:30 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Leah Posluns Theatre, 4588 Bathurst Street, Toronto
This is where the
Calypso Monarch is crowned. Come and
see the best and biggest Canadian Calypsonians battle for the crown. From the topical to the lyrical, the sweet
Soca rhythms will lift you out of your seat and get you moving.
VIII.
King & Queen Show
Thursday, July 31, 2008 –
7:00 p.m.-Midnight
Lamport Stadium
On the Thursday
evening before Caribana Day the Kings and Queens of the Bands meet to do
battle. Like peacocks they will primp
and preen, eliciting “oohs” and “aahs” from the audience. It is an honour for any participant to be
enthroned the King or Queen of Scotiabank Caribana 2008. The King and Queen symbolically have the
keys to the city, freedom of the streets.
Their movements are supposed to be uninhibited. Band members and onlookers alike are to give
them the respect, even if mockingly, usually accorded to real-life royalty.
IX.
Pan Alive
Friday, August 1, 2008 –
7:00 p.m.-Midnight
Lamport Stadium
A thrilling evening
showcasing the musical and tonal qualities of the steelpan as members of the
Ontario Steelband Association compete before a panel of judges. This Panorama of the North is the biggest
opportunity to hear this wonderful instrument in all its glory. The evening is devoted entirely to the
capturing rhythms of the steelpan.
X.
Scotiabank Caribana Parade
Saturday, August 2, 2008 –
10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Exhibition Place (Lake Shore Blvd)
This showcase event
features an incredible display of colour and pageantry, commencing at
Exhibition Place and proceeding west along Lake Shore Boulevard. Exhibition Place and Lake Shore Boulevard
will come alive with the sights and sounds of Carnival!
XI.
De Caribana
Lime—Island Festival
Sunday, August 3, 2008 – 10.00
a.m.–8:00 p.m.
Olympic Island
This event features
a full day of performances from a variety of artistes, highlighting the diverse
cultures of all the Caribbean people.
Activities include a food competition, song, dance, theatrical drama and
storytelling.