What to expect from Caribana Caribbean Festival
It’s surprising to many people that Canada now lays claim to the largest festival in North America. What is even more surprising is that Toronto hosts the 3rd largest Caribbean festival in the world. The only places in the world that hosts larger events are Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica, respectively. With over 1 million people gathering to see the events that last a week there are a few things that you can expect.
Expect for Caribana in Toronto Canada to never start on time. Have you ever heard of Latin time or Caribbean time? The man parade is listed to start at 10am but rarely does anything beyond sitting around happen. Best time to arrive is around 12pm and there will be a spike in activity around 2pm. The last event that I attended I left the premises at 5pm and there were still a massive amount of people entering the gates. Even though the event is listed to end at 5pm it usually doesn’t stop until 6.30pm or later.
Expect to dance and be bumped by a lot of people. There is going to be large crowds moving through the parade and outside of its fences. It’s not a bizarre occasion at a Caribbean festival as everyone will most likely be intoxicated and dancing. Security will take precautions by trying to stop people from the entering the Caribana Parade but usually their attempts are futile. By the end of the parade the masqueraders are so overcrowded that they just end up dancing in place instead of walking.
You can also expect a lot of random people to come up and start dancing with you. There are no rules so be aware of the dancers that are extremely hardcore. You can usually identify them by watching how they interact with others. They often bear hug people and are very aggressive. Last thing to expect is a great time! Caribana is not known for any violence so make sure to bring plenty of SPF!
