Toronto Caribbean Carnival revellers get ready for the Grand Parade
CBC
Toronto's 57th Caribbean Carnival kicks off on Saturday and revellers are gearing up for another colourful Grand Parade along Lake Shore Boulevard.
The month-long celebration will culminate in a final show of pageantry, where masqueraders will dance to soca music in their elaborate ensembles.
Nicholas Guy, the king of Toronto's longest-standing and most successful bands, Saldenah Carnival, spent many sleepless nights working on his costume.
"What really drives my adrenaline is the people in the crowd and their faces when they see the bigger costumes come down," he told CBC Toronto.
Guy said the event represents a lot more than just a street party to him and other participants.
"Everybody comes out, every creed and race, as a unification. That's the best thing for me. It's a beautiful thing."
Toronto is home to the largest carnival in North America with Miami coming in second, according to organizers, and attracts close to two million people to the Grand Parade alone.
Saldenah Carnival band queen Michelle Reyes says putting together all the different costumes in the band, from the huge, royal regalia to the back line dancers "takes a village."
"There's a lot of gluing, tagging, a lot of assembling, welding, wire bending, so all of that goes into making this costume. It's a huge project."
She said volunteers dedicate a lot of their time and money to creating the stunning outfits.
Jennifer Hirlehey, chair of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, said the festival is looking to find a space to showcase the costumes because many of them "get thrown away at the end of the year."
"It's shameful that we're not able to keep these and have a museum to showcase these beautiful costumes... There's so much history and culture and learning that can come from [them] and from the parade," she said.
Hirlehey calls the festival a precious gift to Canada from the Caribbean. Carnival takes place across different countries in the Americas and the Caribbean islands and marks emancipation, the end of slavery.
Hirlehey said even the eye-catching outfits represent that theme of freedom.
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