Kobo Town and Carnival preparing to make Niagara Falls Jump Up To A Caribbean Beat

KOBO TOWN - stephen weir

The Niagara Caribbean Festival bringing Carnival to the Falls
By Stephen Weir

While Torontonians have already put away their costumes for another year, in Niagara Falls, the Caribana schooling is just about to begin.  Tomorrow morning the musical group Kobo Town, a fleet of food trucks and a busload of parade veterans will be heading down the QEW to a famous Niagara Falls park to teach tourists how to jump up and get down to the sounds and sights of Canada’s carnival scene.

The Niagara Caribbean Festival, a weekend celebration of Caribbean music, dance, and Carnival mas costumes starts at 3pm on Friday August 17th and continues to Sunday August 19th.  The free festival, this year starring a pair of Juno Award winning musical acts and the Canadian Calypso Monarch will be held in the Queen Victoria Park directly opposite the American and Canadian Horseshoe Falls.

Connector - Calypso Monarch by sweirsweir

This is the third year that the Toronto based Caribbean Community Engagement (CCE) company  -- in partnership with the Niagara Parks Commission -- is holding a Caribana inspired festival. The CEE is headed up by Yvette Martin, a longtime Toronto stage manager for theatre, festivals (including Caribana) and concerts across the country.
“This is a fun fun weekend in a community that is new to the idea of having an all-in-Caribbean experience,” Yvette Martin told the Caribbean Camera.  “ This weekend’s fete features family-friendly programming, tons of island cuisine and a wealth of entertainment including Kobo Town, Korexion, Canadian Calypso Monarch Joel Davis (Connector), and popular reggae singer Monty Hama.  We are also bringing models, of course in parade costumes, to let the people of the Niagara Region take pictures and learn how to play mas!”
“  The free festival, including the music concerts is all out-doors. People can bring lawn chairs or blankets to lie on the grass, and take in the shows,” said Ms. Martin. “ There is ample parking adjacent to park.  Torontonians don’t have to drive, Go Trains run regularly to the city and link seamlessly with local transit to the park by the Falls.”
Hummingbirds performing
The festival starts this Friday at 3pm and ends with a firework show over the Falls at 10pm.  Saturday the hours are 11 pm to the 10 pm fireworks show and Sunday 11am until 8pm.  There will be vendors and food trucks serving Caribbean style food throughout the festival.
Originally from Trench Town, Canadian Juno award winning Reggae singer Korexion will be the Friday night headliner.  Kobo Town another Juno-nominated Canadian Caribbean music group, led by Trinidadian Canadian singer and songwriter Drew Gonsalves take to the stage at 8pm on Saturday night. Singer reggae artist Monty Hama closes out the weekend performing on Sunday afternoon.
“ Canada’s best Calypso singer Connector will perform all three days, and we have many others on the bill,” said Ms. Martin. “Dahlia, Niagara Falls’ reggae princess is also performing on Saturday.”


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sublimnos - Muse for James Cameron

Image
. . Sublimnos No Longer Out Of Sight … And Definitely Not Out of Mind By Stephen Weir It will take a long long time for a piece of Canadian dive history to rust into dust. Given the hard feelings surrounding the historic Sublimnos Project, the deteriorating, remains of that underwater habitat could well be an above-water Lake Ontario eyesore for years until rust indeed becomes dust. Back in the summer of 1969 Sublimnos was set down in the waters of Georgian Bay near Tobermory, Ontario the self-described "fresh water scuba diving capital of the world" .It was a bargain basement underwater research station. Constructed from a railroad tanker for just $10,000.00, Sublimnos became Canada’s first subsurface research laboratory. From 1969 to 1971 the Sublimnos project, funded and spearhead by physician, author, explorer and frequent Diver Magazine contributor Dr. Joe McInnis, was headline news around the world. Built to accommodate up to four divers at a time, in its first two-ye...
Read more

America Wild. The name of a movie, a metaphor for the star!

Image
. Recent Huffington Post Film Story by Stephen Weir   http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/../../stephen-weir/america-wild-interview_b_11397002.html Rachel Pohl - photo by George Socka “ I don’t work out.   I don’t diet.   I don’t prepare before climbing,” confessed 23-year old mountain climber Rachel Pohl.   “ Why can I (climb up a near vertical rock face) do it?   Thank my mother and father for their DNA!” The modest adventurer is starring in   "America Wild: National Parks Adventure".   She doesn’t simply climb mountains, she preternatural ly finds pinkie sized breaks in sheer rock faces. One foot on one side of a stone crevice, the other on a different rock face altogether. And between her legs? The great abyss.   publicity still - Devil's Tower America Wild, a new Imax movie narrated by Robert Redford, recently had its Canadian premiere in Toronto.   It has begun showing at museums, galleries and Science Centres all acro...
Read more

SCUBA DIVING INSPIRES UNDERWATER TATTOOS (AND TOE NAIL POLISH)

Image
 . Chasing Ink With Camera! One Day On A Little Cayman Dive Boat The compass has a dive flag. Celtic ink with 3 waves for the dive world Stripping down in Little Cayman's only food store Little Cayman Island, population 200, attracts only two types of visitors.  Ornithologists. Experienced Scuba Divers. Ornithologists because of the birds. The largest colony of Red Footed Boobies in the Caribbean is found on Little Cayman's Booby Pond. Scuba Divers go there because of the sheer wall of coral found in the island's underwater preserve, just north of the island. My wife and I returned from Little Cayman Island on Sunday.  We weren't there for the birds. Flamingo is the logo for dive haven Bonaire. We spent most of our week on a couple of dive boats. One large scuba boat was operated by Reef Divers out of the Little Cayman Resort.  The other, a small Boston Whaler operated by three divers, was out on the reef hunting the invasive lionfish...
Read more