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Sponsor-less but Happy.  The Toronto Caribbean Carnival Rolls out a summer of fun, fancy and jammin' By Stephen Weir Lewis and Davis - photo by Anthony Berot OK break out the roti, fire up the air horn, put on the beads and glitter, it is Carnival time in Toronto.  Yesterday the organizer of the annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival held a loud fun kick-off to their 52nd year with a press conference at the lakeside Boulevard Yacht Club. While Mas models paraded in costume and steel pan players performed, 30 or so Toronto media came into the club’s ballroom to hear what is new and different about the summer festival that begins in just 42 days.   In 2019 the festival runs from July 9th to August 3rd. E pic Carnival's Sheyenne Persood was a model at the presser - sweirsweir Facing the media were six speakers sitting at a long table, ready to talk about all aspects of the festival.   So what was said? The message from the experts was right to the point – sta

Joel and the Chutney Soca Monarch coming to Toronto By Stephen Weir Joel Davis at Harbourfront  There will be a Soca Monarch contest held during Toronto’s Caribana weekend, and this year it comes with a healthy dose of T&T Chutney! Shortly after it was learned that there would not be a Toronto Caribbean Calypso Monarch contest this year because of a lack of contestants, a Trinidad based company announced it is working with Canadian publisher / promoter Amit Gossai, to bring the Chutney Soca Monarch (CSM) to Toronto. Chutney Soca deal signed “The Chutney Soca competition in Trinidad gets 5,000 to 10,000 spectators. This is our first year in Canada and I am hopeful that we will get 4,000 to 5,000 through the door,” Mr. Gossai told Carib 101.   “ We are in the process of nailing down a location – once the deal has been signed, I can’t say where it will be, but, I will tell you it will be held in Woodbridge, 3pm to 9pm on August 4th. “   “ Southex Promotions

--> Marcie Brown’s play Deception is funny – and that is the truth! By Stephen Weir No lie (I don’t think). Marcie Brown’s new play, Deception has left the city of Brampton in stitches. It wasn’t just the down-home Caribbean humour, it was the twists and turns of a Jamaican Canadian story that could be true, or is it that the well-known playwright and actress is just messing with us?   “What we saw in Brampton and which audiences are going to see this weekend in Toronto (and the weekend after that in Scarborough and Ajax) is a play that will make them laugh, make them feel the raw emotion and also think about the underlying truths in the storyline. Deception is the real package!” Marcie Brown told the Caribbean Camera.  Familiar faces on stage in Brampton include Brown herself who plays Imogene , Naggo Morris who plays Bredda and Adrea Smith as Madge . As is her passion, Brown introduces the audience to new talent including Grace McDonald ( Dotlyn ) and Nat

The Fordes pull it off with last Sunday’s ‘Ol Time Costume Launch By Stephen Weir If no more Mas bands come out of the woodwork and sign up for this year’s Toronto Caribbean Carnival, the costume launch season officially ended early last Sunday just before tip-off of the Raptor’s championship series game. Long time Mas producers and designers Jacky and Clarence Forde brought along Blue Devils, Dame Lorraine and many other traditional Carnival characters to their ‘Ol Time Mas! Launch at Scarborough’s Queen Victoria Pub. Blue Devil Costume The Forde’s Toronto Mas Arts is keeping characters like the Fancy Sailors, Robbers, Dame Lorraines, Moko Jumbies, Pierrot Grenades, Stick Fighters and Blue Devils in the parks and streets of Toronto this summer.   These traditional carnival characters are being used in their outdoor theatrical presentations and in this summer’s Toronto Caribbean Carnival events. The Fordes are adept at turning lemons into big jug