Bunji and Machel jump in while parade audience may jump out
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Machel Montano on stage at last year's Atlantic Carnival Costume Launch |
The
Atlantic Will Make A Big Wave When It Comes Ashore at the Toronto Harbour on
May 25th
By
Stephen Weir
Atlantic
Carnival, one of the newest mas bands taking part in the annual Toronto
Caribbean Carnival Parade, isn’t going to be competing in this year’s massive
August 3rd event. That doesn’t mean you
won’t see them out on the road, or hosting their signature gigantic mas costume
launch – they have been granted special non-competing status in the 2019 carnival
despite being banned from the parade!
The
Caribbean Camera has learned that the Festival Management Committee – the
owners of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival – has just changed the structure of
the parade itself. They have decided to
allow a number of Mas Bands to sell costumes to revellers and go down the road
with the other competing bands while avoiding the judging process. The bands are also exempted from taking part in
the King and Queen competition and the Junior Carnival Parade.
This
year the FMC expects that there will be some 17,000 people taking part in the
parade. The revellers will go down the
road in three or four distinct groups – Guest Bands, Competing Bands,
Non-Competing Bands and possibly Pan Groups.
Atlantic
Carnival and up to six other bands will be placed in the third
grouping. People taking in the parade
will not see any difference between the Competing and Non-Competing bands. On
the downside for the third group, if stormers do take down the fences and stop
the parade (an annual problem), it will probably be when the non-competitor
bands are on the road.
“ We
are good with the Toronto Caribbean Carnival. In fact it has always been
good,” bandleader Akil Heywood told the Camera. “We have decided
to take our band out of the Competitive portion of the Festival and focus on
selling costumes and providing good customer service to revellers. We no longer
want to participate in the King and Queen portion of the Carnival which cost us
way more money then we can make from winning the (top prizes). “
Competitive
bands must take part in both the King and Queen competition and the Grand
Parade. Competitive bands in the big event parade in front of a stand where
their costumes, music and presentation are judged. The winning bands receive cash prizes for
their efforts.
“ As
well, why should we put our energy into competing (on the road) when the same
three bands have won it all over the last 10 years?” he continued. “Atlantic
Carnival is in the parade, on the road but we are focused on the masquerade
experience not who wins the awards!”
In a taped phone call with the Caribbean
Carnival, Richard de Lima, the new CEO of the festival confirmed that Atlantic
Carnival would be allowed to take part in the parade, in costume. There has
been, according to the FMC, problems with Atlantic Carnival’s conduct (and three other bands) on the parade route
last year. A few months ago the Parade Governor’s Committee banned Atlantic
Carnival from taking part in the 2019 parade.
“Atlantic
Mas has been allowed (back in, even) after they have been banned by the Parade
Governor’s Committee,” explained de Lima. “That decision was amended and they
have now been allowed back into the parade as a non-competing commercial
costume band. They can sell costume and will be in a different category –
non-competing - and they will go at the last segment of the parade.”
Atlantic
Mas is probably not the only band that will bring up the rear of this year’s
festival parade. According to de Lima,
he is looking at seven bands interested in taking part in the parade. If they all get the go-ahead there could be
a thousand or more masqueraders on the road.
Atlantic
is making a bold move to bump up their numbers and win over revellers. At the end of the month they are staging a
massive, star-studded daytime costume launch on May 25th at the Rebel Night
Club in Toronto’s Harbour district. Themed as the “Rebellion”, it will feature
a costume fashion show and live, in person performances by both Bunji and
Machel Montano.
Costume
launches introduce the costumes that each Mas band will be wearing on the road
during the annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival (i.e. Caribana). The fetes – many
of them attracting over a 1,000 carnival fans -- are meant to encourage fans to
sign-up to play mas and to purchase the costumes of their choice. Atlantic has had big name acts including
Destra and Machel perform at their previous launches.
Last
year 11 competing bands held launches and took part in the 2018 parade. This year two bands are missing from the list;
De Regulars (who wrote me to say they will be competing) and the previously mentioned
Atlantic Carnival. The FMC says there
will be only 9 bands competing this summer.
The
reduced number of competitive band may be the reason that the Parade has
changed how bands are going to be judged. A recent Carnival news release
said that this year there will be only one category of competing bands.
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Destra at Atlantic Carnival Costume Launch |
In
year’s gone by the competitive bands have been split into three categories
Large (1,000+ plus in costume), Medium and Small. The bands are judged and
prize money is awarded to the winning bands in each class. In 2018 there were
just two classifications – Large and Medium/Small sized bands. No announcement
has been made on how judging will take place this summer nor how prize monies
will be allocated.
De
Lima told the Camera that he will soon be releasing information about the
parade route, the order of the bands and updates on the Carnival’s events.
The Atlantic Carnival issue is taking a backseat in the mind of the CEO.
Right now the FMC is once again dealing with two major problems – a lack of
operating capital and sponsorship.
“Overall
our (sponsorship and finances) are not good,” he admitted to the paper. “ We
have a number of applications of grant funding into the three levels of
government. The city has been doing
yeoman’s work, we are extremely happy with them. The real key is that we are looking for
positive outcomes with the Province and the Federal Governments.”
“The
immediate problem is money. We have to get some soon if we are going to mount a
decent festival,” said de Lima. “There
is a waning declining attendance. There is a waning interest by a number of
stakeholders including sponsors who recognize these things
themselves. Boy I tell you something, if there was money
available, we could make some miracles happen.”
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Edited Version in the Caribbean Camera Newspaper
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