Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  HECK NO They WON’T GO                                            Wendy Jones at Toronto's Harbourfront with Pan Fantasy By stephen weir According to Stats Canada, fewer Canadians aren’t travelling much to the United States this year including Pan Fantasy, Canada’s top Steel Drum orchestra who have decided to give next summers. Mammoth New York Caribbean streetCarnival, a pass. The festival including its New York Panorama is the largest steelpan competition in North America. This annual steelband competition takes place in Brooklyn, New York every year during Carnival Week. The Panorama competition brings together participants from all around the world to compete against each other for the title of Champions held annually over Labour Day weekend in Brooklyn, is one of North America's largest Caribbean cultural celebrations. The Panorama steelpan competition is held at the ...

              ALL BLACK MUSICAL OPENS WEDNESDAY and runs from April 22 to June 1, 2025 at the Soulpepper Theatre in downtown Toronto's Distillery District. WOWIE. ZOWIE. and Slap My Fanny—ONE OF BROADWAY’S MOST SUCCESSFUL BLACK MUSICALS HITS TORONTO Four Theatre Companies Unite to Bring A Strange Loop to Canadian Audiences By Stephen Weir The all-Black, all-bold, all-out A Strange Loop has landed in Toronto, and it’s making noise—both on and off the stage. Four of the city’s top theatre companies—Soulpepper Theatre, The Musical Stage Company, Crow’s Theatre, and TO Live—have teamed up to present the Canadian premiere of this Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical. The curtain officially rose last Wednesday at the Soulpepper Theatre in the Distillery District to a full house—standing room only (though to be fair, all that standing happened during the thunderous standing ovation at the end of the two-hour show). Like the name suggests, A Strange ...

  WHERE HAVE ALL THE AMERICANS GONE - NEWS STORY BY STEPHEN WEIR WHERE HAVE ALL THE AMERICANS GONE?? BY STEPHEN Stephen Weir Thea. Jackson had a terrific opening last week. Standing amongst her section at the Epic Carnival costume launch she is happy, signing up new revellers who want to Walk De Road this coming August 2nd Toronto Carib bean Carnival Grand Parade.. Still with only 5 months to go the consumer designer/creator is troubled. Where are the Americans. Jackson has long been making costumes for Americans, be it here in Toronto, or at carnival festivals in Miami, Atlanta and in the Caribbean. ”Epic has really got it all together, they are a fantastic (Mas Band). We assume that many American and people from the Caribbean will come to Mas Camp to order new carnivals and jump up with us on the road. But it is a guessing game,will our fans in the USA be concerned about border crossing into Canada and then returning back to the USbecause of the Trump issues While specific data ...

 Question of  the Decade  Who Owns the Name "Caribana"? By Stephen Weir On the job at the Caribbean Camera I received a head-scratching question recently (not uncommon): "could we answer a shipping inquiry?" An aging ocean-going cargo ship named Caribana Express was sold a few months ago, and the reader wondered if the seller had any connection to Toronto’s annual Caribana festival. We gave a quick “No,” and zoom — the email sank to the bottom of our trash bin. A week later, we spotted something curious on the Caribana Toronto website. Even though Toronto’s 2025 carnival season has only just begun with the launch of Mas Bands, the site was already advertising that 85% of its "3 Night Quad Packages" at downtown hotels had been sold. The package — priced from $545 to $765 per person — includes a three-night hotel stay and three event tickets per person (four people per room, luxury accommodations with two double beds). Obviously, the website (which is not ...

  Dwight Morgan riding his non-fiction book to success Yesterday the Writers' Trust announced several shortlists for a number different categories including the shortlist for the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers, along with several other awards in various categories. This year marks the introduction of a new category the Writer’s Trust in the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award: Creative Nonfiction by Emerging Writers. The award recognizes Canada’s top emerging talent—writers who have not yet published a book—and has often served as a springboard to securing agents and book deals. Dwight Morgan is one of three writers nominated in the creative nonfiction category. He is a first-generation Canadian journalist, writer, and editor of Jamaican heritage. His work has appeared on CBC News, and in Maclean’s and The Walrus. An outdoor enthusiast, Morgan cycled 7,708 kilometres from Vancouver to St. John’s in 2012. He is currently working on his first book, a collection of essays explo...

  I got a peek back backstage at the Soulpepper Theatre Distillery District at a rehearsal for Strange Loop Malachi McCaskill leads cast in rehearsal Award-winning Broadway musical A Strange Loop has its Canadian premiere on Wednesday. It tells the story of Usher (played here by American actor Malachi McCaskill). The musical follows the journey of Usher, a young Black queer writer working as an usher at The Lion King. This provocative, groundbreaking production brilliantly blends humour and heart as Usher battles the swirling voices in his head—personified as "Thoughts"—while writing a musical about his own life. The Canadian premiere of A Strange Loop is co-produced by four major Toronto arts organizations: Soulpepper Theatre, The Musical Stage Company, Crow’s Theatre, and TO Live. The production runs from April 22 to June 1, 2025.

TWO DIVERS DIE IN TWO DIFFERENT ST LAWRENCE RIVER INCIDENTS THIS MONTH PHOTO OF HASLIP - MSN NEWS On Friday, CTV News reporter Ted Raymond reported that Ontario Provincial Police say the body of a scuba diver who went missing in the St. Lawrence River west of Cornwall, Ont. has been recovered. “The diver was among a group of four who were diving near Lock 21 on the Long Sault Parkway around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday," Raymond reported. "Only three divers resurfaced that evening.” Police began a search for the missing diver with help from the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, the Hogansburg Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department, the RCMP, and the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department. The body was found Thursday morning. Police have not yet released the diver’s identity. In a separate incident, another man died on April 13 after going into distress while shore diving in the St. Lawrence River at Kingston, according to the OPP. His body was found the next day. Well-known dive instruc...

"Black Voices Rise: Virtual Election Forum Predicts Record Candidacies" By Stephen Weir Warren Salmon isn’t saying who will be the next Prime Minister of Canada, but after organizing the Black Community Federal Election Meet and Greet Virtual Event last week, he’s predicting a record number of Black candidates will run across the country. The event was designed to showcase Black candidates and engage various political parties in a meaningful way. Salmon was one of the principal organizers of the event, which was supported by 17 organizations from across Canada. Held virtually, the event created a space where Black Canadians could connect directly with federal election candidates. It aimed to boost political engagement by offering a platform for dialogue, sharing community concerns, and securing candidate commitments. The goal: to encourage informed voting and increase representation in government. “It was an opportunity to learn more about each party’s platform highlights, as...

  Jamaican Canadian Writer Christina Cooke in the Running for $10,000 Prize Earlier this week, Rakuten Kobo announced the shortlist for its 2025 Emerging Writer Prize—and one Caribbean Canadian new author is among the finalists. With its Emerging Writer Prize, Rakuten Kobo aims to raise the profile of debut authors by recognizing exceptional books written by first-time Canadian authors in three categories: Literary Fiction, Nonfiction, and one of three types of genre fiction—Romance, Speculative Fiction, or Mystery. One of the nominated authors is Christina Cooke, for her novel  Broughtupsy . Cooke, a Jamaican Canadian fiction writer and essayist—not a con artist, she notes—is originally from Jamaica and now resides in New York City as a Canadian citizen. Broughtupsy  tells the story of Akúa, a young woman who travels to Jamaica hoping to reconnect with her estranged older sister, Tamika. Over the course of three fateful weeks, the sisters revisit significant places from ...

GO GREEN  IN NOVA SCOTIA WITH MARK EMBRETT! I really wish I lived in Nova Scotia’s South Shore—St. Margarets riding, because I would proudly vote for Mark Embrett, the Green Party candidate. 🌿 Mark is running to protect the environment and help communities thrive in a truly sustainable way—by making decisions based on evidence and the real needs of people. Throughout his career, he’s worked to improve healthcare access, equity, and innovation, always focused on making sure policies actually work for the people they’re meant to serve. Now he’s bringing that same dedication to government, to build a healthier, more prosperous future for all Canadians. South Shore—St. Margarets, you’re lucky to have him on the ballot! 🇨🇦💚 #VoteGreen #MarkEmbrett #SouthShoreStMargarets 

  NBA Star Jamaal Magloire’s Toronto Revellers Hit the Caribana Court in Style By Stephen Weir The Toronto Revellers, led by NBA star Jamaal Magloire, are dressed, hyped, and officially on the court warming up for the 2025 Toronto Caribbean Carnival. This past weekend, the Mas Cam[ held their highly anticipated costume launch and are promising a high-energy lead-up to the Grand Parade on August 2nd “Our launch was a rousing success and Jamaal is very happy with the turnout this year and the response we have received thus far,” said Tronja St. Omer of the Toronto Revellers Cultural Association. She told the Caribbean Camera yesterday, “Everyone had an amazing time, and we look forward to our Mas Camp opening.” The launch took place Saturday night at Parkview Manor, located at Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue. With a venue capacity of 1,350, the turnout was impressive. As one follower of reporter Stephen Weir wrote: “Boy, de launch did ram out!” The 2025 theme, Paradise: The Big R...