Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  Festival stalwart has passed away Written by Stephen Weir for the September 5, 2024 Caribbean Camera newspaper. Amidst all the hubbub of the August carnival and its Grand Parade, the passing of Calvin Robert Taylor, one of the stalwarts of past parades, was missed by many within the carnival community. He died just days before the parade at the age of 70. Calvin was deeply committed to the carnival community, both in Toronto and his hometown of Burlington/Hamilton. “Calvin was a carnival stalwart,” reads his online obituary. He began his involvement in Caribana as a promoter, bringing music bands from Trinidad and managing their performances in North America, and ended his stint as a festival parade manager, responsible for parade logistics and the procession of bands along the parade route. He was particularly involved with the Caribana Parade Committee under the Festival Management Committee (FMC). Mr. Taylor was born and raised in Trinidad. As a young man, he came to Canada in 197

Toronto Carnival’s offical media launch attendees - photo and story by Stephen Weir  Caribbean Graphic Canada Magazine 618 Strouds Lane, Pickering, ON L1V 4S9 • Tel: 905.831-4402 • Fax: 416.292.2943 • Email: caribbeangraphic@rogers.com Canada All Set For Toronto’s Carnival (May 30, 2012) ... The stage is all set for the Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival’s big parade on August 4th. As the 45th year for the festival formerly known as Caribana, 2012 promises to be much bigger with new events, new locations and additional corporate sponsors. It all starts July 17th at Toronto’s Nathan Phillip’s Square, home of Toronto’s City Hall, That’s the date and venue for the Festival’s Official Public Launch. On July 21st, Downsview Park will host the Junior Carnival Parade, a Kiddie’s version of the big parade. Last year over 2,000 children performed for the judges and played Mas along the streets of the Jane Finch corridor. Downsview Park, better suited to handle the growing num