Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

A Fete of Epic Proportions – April is full of Energy By Stephen Weir   Centre Stage, EPIC's 2018 Costume Launch April is StretchMas time in Toronto. Stretch (aka Jerrol Augustine) the popular bandleader of EPIC Mas knows how to put on a fete.  And, on April 18th his band is going to show the city just how exciting a costume launch can be. The number one medium sized band in the 2019 Toronto Caribbean Carnival parade is holding an early launch at the large Cinnamon Banquet Hall on McNicoll Avenue in Scarborough. “Our theme for 2020 is ENERGY,” said Augustine when speaking to the Caribbean Camera yesterday. “Energy is one of the pillars of what EPIC Carnival stands for.  E.P.I.C or Energy. Passion. Imagination and Culture. We want our masqueraders to release their energy on the road with us this year!” Model from 2019 launch Epic is one of the first competing bands to hold a costume launch in 2020.  They will have ten sections on stage presenting costumes unde

Venom's Snake Eyes - Launch attracts over 1,000 revellers By Stephen Weir More than 80 reptilian mas' models slithered, slinked and strutted onto a huge V-shaped stage in Toronto early Sunday morning. Despite a very late start, the models put on a fashion show that wowed the more than 1,000 people who crammed into the Grand Cinnamon Banquet & Convention Centre on McNicoll Avenue   in Scarborough for the Venom Mas' costume launch. Dubbed the "venomous show,"   it was a non-stop parade of models wearing the briefest of costumes.   Two human lizards stood on stage throughout show, wagging long red tongues at the crowd.   There was even a section that outfitted their male and female models with "snake eye" contact lenses.    And was the show sexy? It was bare as you dare time from 1.30 a.m. to 3 p.m.   (The show was due to start before midnight). “Extremely happy with the show. A true testament of the hard work   of our band

THE BIGGEST SO FAR THIS COSTUME LAUNCH SEASON SALDENAH CARNIVAL   IS ALL HEART AND SOCA! By Stephen Weir The Saldenah family pulled it off.  There was too much at stake. Louis Saldenah was able to get a record number of people – 2,800 people into the Scarborough Cinnamon Banquet Hall,  He had 120 fancy dressed models on and off  the stage before the bar closed at 2 am and didn’t have a heart attack getting the job done! Saldenah Carnival, the largest and most winning Canadian band in the annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival Grand Parade is taking it all to heart in 2019.   Note that their theme is the Heart Beat: the Thrill of Life. And to keep the whole thing beating a record 17 sections were needed to show all the costumes they will have on the road this year. “ We expect to be making 6,000 costumes this season,” said  Hayden Harbin. “ There will be five trucks on the road with special guest stars on the floats (Caribbean Camera hears that Trinidadian singer Nadia Batson

Two Different Approaches For The Saturday night Battle of the Bands By Stephen Weir  Photographs by Stephen Weir  Jully Black from reggae singer to Soca sailor Two Mas Men went head-to-head on Saturday night and both came out winners, each in their own way.   A pair of Caribbean Carnival Band launches were held on the same night – one in North Toronto and the other in Malvern.    The two band leaders   - Raptor celeb Jamaal Magloire (Toronto Revellers) and Will Morton (Fantazia) took two different approaches to showing off the costumes that their bands will be wearing on the road this summer. In the business of Mas, the winners and losers of a Battle of the Bands, is ultimately not determined by the number of people that attended (in which case Jamaal won hands down) but rather by the number of costume buyers who decide to sign on the bottom line as a result of the fashion show.   The Revellers won at the gate, and Fantazia had the most social media cameras beamin