Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

The Winds of Change Blow Through the Offices of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival An edited/rewritten version of my story appeared on the  front page  of last week's  The Caribbean Camera newspaper Goodbye to Aneesa Oumarally. The Caribbean Camera has learned that the 40-something lawyer is no longer at the helm of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival. Veteran carnival administrators Denise Herrera-Jackson and Chris Alexander are now running the annual festival. In a conversation with me (Stephen Weir) Ms. Oumarally explained that she had not been fired and that the decision to leave the Festival was made after discussions with the Festival Management Committee Board about the future of the 53-year old festival. Oumarally, a well-respected Mississauga lawyer is returning to the practice of law but will keep her hand in Carnival by re-joining the Festival Board. The Festival Management Committee (FMC) Chair, Joe Halstead, confirmed her comments.  “ She wasn’t terminated,” he said in a taped

Saturday 100,000 People Watch and Take To Toronto Caribbean Carnival's Virtual Road  By Stephen Weir:  It was the perfect parade that the world will never see live.  Beautiful people in costumes, soaring pan, word perfect Calypso. No gaps on Lakeshore Blvd. No arguments amongst the  Mas Men.   No stormers.  No rain, thunder or lightning.  Perfect, but,  sigh,  the city really misses you  Toronto Caribbean Carnival. “When you total up the viewers on all the different platforms from Twitch to Instagram to Facebook, we had 100,000 watching the  Virtual Road Carnival  on Saturday alone,” said  Aneesa Oumarally ,  Chief Executive Officer  of the  Festival Management Committee.  “The whole world did watch. We heard from (happy fans) in Atlanta, Cleveland and other great American cities who told us they are coming to Toronto next summer to be with us live.” Ourmarally’s viewership numbers have been confirmed by  CBC News , while some social media sites say when one takes into account repo

Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2020, which was scheduled to be held this summer, has been cancelled. T he Festival Management Committee (FMC), organizer of the annual carnival, made the announcement yesterday. In a news release, the  FMC stated that its Board of Directors decided to cancel the month-long events, held in July-August, “due to the continued developments concerning the spread of COVBID-19, the severe public health threat and global health crisis.” ” The events include the Festival Launch, Junior King and Queen Show, Junior Parade, Adult King and Queen Show, Pan Alive, and Grand Parade,” the release said. It noted that  ” the mass crowds that attend the events present a tremendous risk regarding the spread of the virus. It is therefore unanimous that the priority must be the health and safety of our patrons and having weighed all these considerations, there is no choice but to cancel this year’s festival. “It is our responsibility to the City and our patro

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

WRAP UP OF CARNIVAL 2019 - GREAT FESTIVAL BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PARADE ANYWAY? By Stephen Weir (for the Caribbean Camera) Three months ago, plans for the 2019 Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana for all us old timers) had all the makings of a plan for a funeral parade. The festival had lost Peeks, its name-sponsor, and behind the scene sources said that the Smart Phone App had not ponied up the total monies promised for 2018 – meaning the Festival was already in the hole before the first Mas camp opened its doors. With no new major sponsors infusing big dollars into their empty piggy bank the FMC was broke. The owners of the festival were also hit by staffing issues early in 2019. The new CEO, Richard DeLima, only 6-months into the job, was dismissed even though he had been brought in to save the festival. Shortly thereafter, the number two man, Trinidad’s Gerard Weekes suddenly left the organization and the country (but he did come back to Toronto in time to be a spec

THE KIDDIES PARADE - ANOTHER BIG WIN FOR THIS YEAR'S TORONTO'S CARIBBEAN FESTIVAL --> By Stephen Weir  You could tell that everyone was pumped to cheer on the children.   A city ambulance stuck a Trinidadian flag on its hood. A Caribbean man donned a banana costumes and walked the parade route handing out bananas to the junior revellers.   Local politicians waved and cheered and parents cried for joy when they saw their kids play mas on Neilson Road in Malvern! If you can ignore the punishingly hot sunshine and the lack of a cooling wind, Saturday’s Junior Carnival Parade and Family Day. There were over 2,000 little masqueraders wearing costumes belonging to nine competing bands. An estimated 8,000 people lined the parade route and sat in the stands to wildly clap and cheer at one of Canada’s biggest children’s costume parade. On Saturday morning Mayor John Tory and Deputy Mayor, Michael Thompson, along with other councillors and MPPs cut a ribbon to