Goodbye to The Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival

Sponsor-less but Happy.  The Toronto Caribbean Carnival Rolls out a summer of fun, fancy and jammin'

By Stephen Weir

Lewis and Davis - photo by Anthony Berot

OK break out the roti, fire up the air horn, put on the beads and glitter, it is Carnival time in Toronto.  Yesterday the organizer of the annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival held a loud fun kick-off to their 52nd year with a press conference at the lakeside Boulevard Yacht Club.

While Mas models paraded in costume and steel pan players performed, 30 or so Toronto media came into the club’s ballroom to hear what is new and different about the summer festival that begins in just 42 days.  In 2019 the festival runs from July 9th to August 3rd.

Epic Carnival's Sheyenne Persood was a model at the presser - sweirsweir

Facing the media were six speakers sitting at a long table, ready to talk about all aspects of the festival.  So what was said? The message from the experts was right to the point – stay the course.

There are eight official events this year; one new event has been added and two smaller have been removed since last year’s carnival.  The annual gala is being brought back and updated.  The opening and closing church services are no longer listed on the festival media hand out card.

Carnival has traditionally held a black-tie gala in Exhibition Place, but did not stage one in 2018.  This year the gala is being replaced by Beyond The Mas, a less formal, less expensive, costume heavy party which will be held at the Riviera Ballroom in Vaughan, north of the city, the evening of July 26th.

“Experience the magic and thrill of masquerade”, said festival executive Denise Herrera-Jackson. “Come see the costumes as Ole Time Carnival is performed.  Music is by Ossie Gurley, one of the writers of the song Who Let The Dogs Out!”

Other changes?  According to COO Chris Alexander, the Junior King and Queen Showcases will be held this year “outdoors at the Malvern Town Centre shopping mall on July 14th and the junior parade six days later.” Last year the popular Kiddies large costume show was held at the Woodbine Mall in north Etobicoke.

Chris Alexander spoke for half an hour about the changes and upgrades to the parade on August 3rd. The parade is longer, will be louder with addition of more pan groups and non-competing bands!

The bands will present themselves in this order: guest bands, competitive bands, non-competitive bands, and steelbands will round off the parade. The bands will leave Exhibition Place, go westbound on the Lakeshore for about two kilometres before turning and coming back eastbound on the Lakeshore back to exhibition place to be judged. The first Band should be arriving at the judge’s stage at about 11:30.

There will be six zones for spectators and masqueraders, one of which will be a paid area in close proximity to the judging area.

The addition of the non-competing bands will add significantly to the size of the parade and the running time of the daylong event.  According to bandleader Brittany Dardaine, The Dream Carnival, a new non-profit Internet based Toronto band has already is already sold out of costumes. With five sections, Dream will have 500 revellers taking part in the non-competitive grouping of the parade.

Mike Williams - photo by sweirsweir

Atlantic Mas, who recently had Machel Montano singing at their costume launch, hope to have 5,000 revellers on the parade route. Atlantic is also a non-competing band.

Michael Williams has been fielding competitive mas bands since the early seventies.  This year his D’Regulars will instead be a non-competitive band and they are eschewing the skimpy skimpy costumes that most bands are promoting this year. 

“ We are putting dignity into our designs,” he told the Camera. “We are a Big People mas band and are making costumes that people of all sizes will be comfortable to go down the road in.”

D’Regulars is having their  launch on July 1st.  It is an all-day family friendly event  with Caribbean food  and music.  The costume show starts at 8pm and it will take place  in Scarborough’s Spade Night Club.  
In addition to running the Mas Band, Michael Williams is the new Parade Liaison Manager for the Festival.  He replaces Trinidad citizen Gerard Weekes who apparently has left his employment in the carnival offices and returned to Trinidad.

There was much talk from the stage from Chris Alexander about security and again another call to revellers (the paying customers not the band) to stop storming the parade route and to leave their weapons at home. It was a chilling statement but given what has been happening at large outdoor events in North America and Caribbean, probably a very timely warning.

The Toronto Caribbean Carnival used their press conference to introduce Nadelle Lewis and Joel Davis as the winners of 2019 “Face of the Festival” contest.

Through a unanimous vote Lewis and Davis won the titles.  Lewis started the #everyBODYplayamas movement to encourage full-figured men and women to play mas during carnival. The movement has broken down barriers to change public perception, while projecting a positive self-image for all during the masquerade experience.

Davis, also known as "Connector" has been named - Canada's Calypso Monarch by the Organization of Calypso Performing Artists.

With press conferences, sometimes what is not said is just as important as what is said and who is there to hear it.  This year nothing was said from the podium about title sponsorship. Last year the adult content app Peeks Social was the title sponsor – in 2019 it is no longer The Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival.

No official reason was given why owner Guyanese Canadian Mark Itwatu is no longer sponsoring the event.  Also not sponsoring the event in 2019 is media giant the Toronto Star. 

As to who wasn’t there, Anthony Joseph, the Caribbean Camera publisher noted a large turnout of television media and some mainstream press, there was almost no community media (except this paper) covering the launch.

Today's Caribbean Camera

Without sponsorship funding, advertising support and Caribbean Canadian media coverage, the Festival is going into 2019 badly in need of a “white knight”  - be it government, private donors or by a company looking to increase its exposure in front of the million spectators the festival predicts will be in Toronto for carnival.