Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  Kiddies And Parents Will be Jumping Up At  Two Coming Costume Launches.    Forgot how busy summer is in the city of Toronto?  The weekly Caribbean Camera carnival list begins here.   With the Covid Pandemic apparently in retreat, Carnival event planners have quickly booked event halls, outdoor concert venues and even amusement parks for every weekend of the spring and summer all beginning this weekend.   Over the next three months the Caribbean Camera will keep readers in the loop and up-to-date. Of special note this week is for the kids.   Junior Revellers’ Band Launch Takes Off On Saturday NBA great Jamaal Magloire’s Revellers’  costume launch for adults brought in near record numbers last month. This weekend will they repeat those monster number with the children’s version of their Bon Voyage  Costume Launch?   Every summer, Covid willing, the Toronto Caribbean Carnival stages a Junior Carnival Parade in Toronto’...

By Stephen Weir, photographs by Dan Moreland Wave after wave of junior masqueraders showed off their moves and their wildly colourful mas costumes to an audience of parents, friends and members of the press.   The Toronto Caribbean Carnival’s Junior Parade media launch was held indoors at the Malvern Town Centre mall over the lunch hour on Tuesday. Ahead the July 21 st Junior Carnival, a preview of costumes and performances was put on display for the cameras. The hour and half launch was a mixture of entertainment by young costumed revelers and speeches by adult politicians, sponsors and organizers giving the media information about four coming events for children taking part in the 2018 carnival. “ This year we really want to bring it back to the kids and to the families,” said Kevin Carrington, the MC for the media launch. “We have the Junior Carnival King and Queen Showcase taking place on stage at the Woodbine Centre in Etobicoke on July 15th...

Cooking Up A Storm At The 2018 Toronto Junior Carnival By Stephen Weir / photographs by Anthony Berot  Children raise your spatulas. Get ready for the competition that will determine Canada’s top junior jerk chef! Grace Foods has put out the call for youngsters between the ages of 9 and 15 to don aprons and enter their annual Junior Chef Culinary Competition.  There is a total of  $1,500 in prize money waiting to be won! “This is a really great experience for kids who have a love of food,” said Prize coordinator  Petronilla Marchan. “This is all about learning how to create tasty dishes using nourishing Caribbean ingredients. “ The Jamaican food company says that it wants to provide a platform for aspiring young foodies to demonstrate their culinary skills and to promote a passion for healthy eating. “This contest is open to everyone,” continued Ms. Marchan. “You don’t have to be Caribbean to cook with jerk.” Grace Food has set up a website (www.juni...

WINNER OF THE BAND COMPETITION AT THE JUNIOR CARNIVAL Results from Saturday's Junior Carnival Parade. Just in case you missed my Tweet from the Junior Carnival Parade on Saturday. Carnival Nationz is the band of the year at the Toronto Caribbean Carnival's Junior Carnival Parade. Jamaal Magloire's Toronto Revellers place second. Third place went to Louis Saldenah's Mas K Camp. JUNIOR CARNIVAL QUEEN Results from Saturday's Junior Carnival Parade. The Junior Carnival Queen this year is Kaia Cassell, for her portrayal of The Carian …. Spirit Of The Bird People. She is with Carnival Nationz. The Nest. Second Place honours go to Caneisha Edwards for her portrayal of The Flamingo Queen. She is with Dexter Seusahai's Tribal Carnival. Paradise. Third Place honours were won by Madison Defreitas-Robinson for her portrayal of The Locust and The Warrior. She is with Louis Saldenah's Mas-K Club. Outta Africa. Fourth Place was taken by Mellissa Perry as Tlalte...

  . But a Toronto Summer is always Hot, Hot, Hot. Jump Up. Jump Up. In the land of  snow   (feature article for WinTV's inflight magazine - Trinidad)  Playing Mas in downtown Toronto - photograph by Andrew Weir In Canada, carnival is done differently. In Trinidad, you might even call it backwards. But hey, if you can get a million people to jump up, you gotta be doing something right. At Carnival in Trinidad, everyone plays Mas in the street.  The players out-number the people watching by a long shot.  In Toronto?  There are million people cheering on the 16,000 people playing Mas along the city’s waterfront! The Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival is getting ready to hit the streets of Toronto, this August 4th.  This is the 45 th year for the festival formally known as Caribana, and not only is going to be bigger, it is going to be better. The Toronto festival runs for three weeks and attracts over a million people ...