The Grand Parade will start at 8 a.m. on Lakeshore Boulevard from Exhibition Place Grounds
Lakeshore Boulevard will be full of bright, feathered, and sparkling characters, and steel pan music will be playing. Saturday is the Grand Parade for the Toronto Caribbean Carnival.
The event, which is a celebration of freedom, is expected to draw thousands of people who want to take part and huge crowds of people who want to watch.
Masahda Lochan-Aristide couldn’t be happier to walk in her first parade with her family.
She says that the event isn’t just a party.
She said, “It’s a party to celebrate freedom, emancipation, and the freedom of slaves who were brought to Trinidad.”
She says that the event is a great way for people from different cultures to learn about each other and have fun.
Lochan-Aristide is from Trinidad, and she and her sisters will wear turquoise outfits with diamonds and sparkles that remind them of Princess Jasmine.
It takes hours to make each outfit.
“Each costume’s jewels are put on by hand by the people who make it. “Everything is hand-decorated, which takes a lot of time,” Lochan-Aristide said.
She says that one of the parade’s themes is “Once Upon a Time,” so people who watch can expect to hear many different stories.
The whole song has the sound of steel pan drums
Stacy Rodriguez has been with Carnival for a long time.
“I would say since birth,” she told CBC Toronto. “To me, Mas, Pan, and Calypso are like the body’s oxygen, blood, and soul.”
Now that Rodriquez is in charge of events for the Ontario Steelpan Association, she says it’s an honor to pass on the traditions to the next generation.
“Our youngest steel pan player is five years old, and our oldest is well over 100 years old,” she said.
Watch | Take a look inside a workshop where carnival costumes are made:
She says that even though the Caribbean Carnival in Toronto has its roots in Trinidad and Tobago, where she was born, it is an event that people of all ages and cultures are welcome to attend and take part in.
“Anyone can learn how to play a steel pan. Anyone can learn how to make a costume and put it on. “There are no limits and no closed doors,” she said.
Millions of dollars and thousands of jobs come from the festival
The festival is also a huge boost to the city’s and businesses’ economies.
The CEO of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, Mischa Crichton, said that this festival is especially important for Caribbean and Black businesses because it gives the Carnival a chance to show them off.
She also says that more than 3,300 direct jobs were made because of the 2022 festival. It also added about $465 million to the GDP of Ontario.
Crichton thinks that this year’s parade weekend will have even more people there than last year’s because it will be easier for everyone to get there, including many Americans.
“We’re expecting all of the numbers to go up,” she said.
Expect road closure
The Grand Parade will leave the Exhibition Place Grounds at 8 a.m. and go along Lakeshore Boulevard before coming back to the CNE. It will go on until 8 p.m., after which there will be other festival events.
Many roads in the area will be closed until Sunday morning by the Toronto police. These things are:
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From Fort York Boulevard to Colborne Lodge Drive, Lake Shore Boulevard West goes from north to south.
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Locals can only drive on Lake Shore Boulevard West westbound between Bathurst Street and Fort York Boulevard.
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Fleet Street leads south on Strachan Avenue.
On Saturday, the parade will also close the following Gardiner ramps:
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Gardiner Expressway on ramp at Jameson Avenue, heading west.
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Take the Jameson Avenue exit from the eastbound Gardiner Expressway.
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Take the ramps from Jameson Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard West at British Columbia Road to get on the eastbound Gardiner Expressway.
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Gardiner Expressway off ramp at Dunn Avenue for people going west.
The parade is not the end of the festival. On Sunday, at 2:00 p.m., Malvern Park will host an International Food Festival and Pan in D’Park, which will feature steel pan drumming.
Crichton was getting calls and messages on Friday to make sure everything was set for the big final weekend. She told CBC Toronto that her biggest hope for this year was simple: that “the festival will give everyone an overwhelming feeling of joy.”