Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

King Costume Designer at the Ontario Science Centre to Pick Up His Award Summertime memories of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival Parade may have begun to fade, but for fans of the Caribbean Arts. one memory will never disappear.  Who can forget Heart Beat of the Thrill of Life, the incredible King Costume worn by first time designer Nicholas Guy at the August King and Queen Competition.  It was a two-sided costume that depicted the final battle of angels and demons, where good triumphs over evil.  Guy’s costume won it all that night including the coveted annual Ontario Science Centre Innovation in Mas’ Award. He won both awards on behalf of the Louis Saldenah’s Mas K Camp. On Sunday afternoon at a packed Ontario Science Centre, Nicholas Guy was honoured on stage for the construction of that breathtaking costume.  Guy spoke at length at the ceremony about the costume and the relevance of the Carnival dream! In the audience were members of the Mas K ...

It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This By Stephen Weir The stars glittering above were most certainly aligned.  There will never be a Caribana King and Queen Competition as good as what happened last Thursday night at Lamport Stadium. What do we mean? In point form here’s why it was an event for the carnival history books. Clear warm skies. No wind. A stadium filled to capacity with hard-core fans of the carnival arts. Drama. Pageantry. And, two big surprises at the podium. According to Weather Canada, when the gates opened at the downtown soccer stadium, it was a sunny cloudless 25 degrees Celsius. When the contest ended just before midnight it was 20 degrees Celsius – just the right temperature to cool down an estimated audience of 10,000 as they streamed out of Lamport. Most of the crowd left the open-air stadium long before the winning announcements were made. Those that did stay greeted the names of the new King and Queen with loud gasps and then applause. ...