MEDIA LAUNCH ADVISORY - TORONTO CARIBBEAN CARNIVAL

 50^th Year For Caribbean Festival in Canada

Media Launch With Minister of Tourism

Costumes, New Parade Route and New Sponsors

 

MEDIA LAUNCH ADVISORY

We have been celebrating our Caribbean Canadian heritage for the past 49 summers here in Toronto. On June 1^st, MinisterEleanor McMahon, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, will be the keynote speaker at the Media Launch for the 50^th annual Caribbean festival.  The 11.45 am press conference will be held at Toronto’s Ontario Science Centre.

The highly visual media/social media only event is to announce several important changes to the festival including a new direction for the August 5^th Grand Parade, a new corporate sponsor for the event, new 50^th anniversary events during the month long festival and a fashion show of 22 new costume designs – both male and female - that will be worn on the parade route this year. Music. Food.

When:  Thursday, June 1, 2017
11.45 Sharp.

Doors open at 11am. Please allow 10-minutes to travel from Science Centre entrance to the Hot Zone. Camera crews contact Science Centre for parking near the Hot Zone entrance on the Southside of the building. Caribbean Reception to follow

Where:
Toronto, Ontario Science Centre

“The Hot Zone” Hall

770 Don Mills Rd, Toronto, ON M3C 1T3

Who:

The Honourable Eleanor McMahon, Mi nister of Culture.  The Honourable Mitzie Hunter, Minister of Education, Toronto Police. Costume Designers.  “Face of the Festival” model in costume, 22 parade models, mas camp leaders, corporate sponsors.  Master of Ceremonies for the event is  CP24/Bell Media’s Patricia Jaggernauth. Pannists. Calypsonians. Carnival Run founder. Grace Food’s Junior Carnival Chef.

Why:

The Toronto Caribbean Carnival will run from July 7, 2017 to August 7, 2017 with events showcasing originality, culture, and history to millions of spectators who come to the events in downtown Toronto or watch it on television and on-line. The theme this year is Celebrating our heritage from then to now'. It is the theme for the entire festival from the parade route, to the shows and all our performers including Singers, Pannists and Calypsonians.

Media should register at the event for Event credentials this festival.

Action Requested:

Information on the carnival https:// torontocaribbeancarnival.com/
To RSVP and for further details, please contact:

 

Stephen Weir

Carnival Communications

416-489-5868

stephen@stephenweir.com

@sweirsweir

 

Large crowd cover Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto Media Launch

Full house at the Media Launch of this year's Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto festival. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

New events. New locations. New supporters.

Three weeks of reasons to Jump Up

May 29, 2012  (Toronto) –In Toronto the carnival season has just begun.  At a Tuesday morning press conference at the Royal Ontario Museum, the media was briefed on what is in store for Canada’s biggest annual outdoor event.  This is the 45^th year for the festival and the Festival Management Committee is preparing for a huge summer in the streets and parks of Toronto.

“This year we have moved a couple of the events – the children’s parade and the international Rugby Match – to new locations to answer the demands of a growing audience,” explained co-CEO Denise Herrera-Jackson. “And, this year we making sure that each and ever event that we manage donates to a different community charity, most noteably Sickle Cell Anemia.”

The Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival is already getting ready for the big parade is August 4th.  This is the 45th year for the festival formally known as Caribana, and not only is going to be bigger; it has new events, new locations and additional corporate sponsors.

It all starts July 17th at Toronto’s Nathan Phillip’s Square. The City Hall square is jammed to see the Official Public Launch for the festival. Dancers, musician, calypso singers come out and perform to get the city and this always-huge crowd in the mood for Carnival.

  MPP Michael Couteau opens presser

On July 21st the first BIG event takes place at Downsview Park when the Junior Carnival Parade takes place. Think of it as a Kiddie’s version of the big parade.  Last year over 2,000 children performed for the judges and played Mas along the streets of the Jane Finch corridor. Downsview Park, better suited to handle the growing number of children taking part is the new location of the parade.

Sport fans will want to take in the Canada versus the best of the Jamaica Rugby League in a Festival Cup Match that will be held downtown at the Lamport Stadium on the 21st of July. Last year Canada won the match at a field in north Markham.

Dress for most Festival goings on is casual.  However, there is one event where formal wear is the rule of the evening.  The Annual Gala is a dress up affair to honour the rich history of the festival and to sample the Caribbean arts. This year it all happens on July 27th at the Liberty Grande Ballroom inside the CNE grounds.

Many of the world’s best Calypso performers live in Toronto.  They will be showing their stuff in the annual Monarch Contest on July 28th and then again on the 31st at the All-Star Showcase at Harbourfront. 

 

Jason Woodman (l), El Dorado Rum, the official  rum of Festival. 

And the events keep coming.  There is a huge outdoor Pan Alive battle of the steel pan orchestras planned for August 3^rd at Lamport Stadium.  The King and Queen contest, the day before on August 2nd is always a sell-out, so this year Lamport Stadium has been reconfigured to allow for almost 20,000 spectators – up from 11,000.

 The August 4th Parade along Toronto’s waterfront is still the largest outdoor event in Canada!  And this year people are invited to stay up all night.  After the parade has ended people are invited into Ontario Place to take part in the all-new night all night Fish Fry (10 pm – 4 am), and stay for daytime Sunday food festival. The festival includes a lime and breakfast on Ontario Place’s South Beach followed by a retro J’ouvert. This is Caribbean style parade party with Bahamian Jankanoo, French Creole Kompas and Zouk, and Grenadian ShortKnee performers.  As the day progresses, people will enjoy the live performers and steelpan music. Take an island hop to tasty morsels such as jerk cuisine and rum cocktails. Then everyone will wind-down at sunset with an exciting closing concert.

“We have expanded our programming in part because of we have expanded our corporate sponsorship base,” continued Denise Herrera Jackson. “ Scotibank is of course our keynote sponsor. CTV, CP-24, the Toronto Star and Sway Magazine continue to be our very generous and supportive media partners. We have added El Dorado Rum as the official sponsor of our Gala; FLOW radio is back and is taking a bigger role with the festival.  We have just added WIN TV and WIN Radio --a popular Caribbean radio and television station based in Trinidad -- as our Caribbean media sponsor and will be live streaming the parade back to Trinidad. “

CP-24's Stephen Ledrew interviews ROM curator live at even

 About Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival

The Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival is an exciting three-week cultural explosion of Caribbean music, cuisine, revelry as well as visual and performing arts. Now in its 45th year, it has become a major international event and the largest cultural festival of its kind in North America. As Carnival is an international cultural phenomenon, the great metropolis of Toronto and its environs will come alive as the city explodes with the pulsating rhythms and melodies of Calypso, Soca, Reggae, Chutney, Steel Pan and Brass Bands. The Festival Management Committee oversees the running of North America’s largest outdoor festival.

Corporate sponsors of this year’s festival include: Scotiabank, The Toronto Star, Sway Magazine, CTV, CP-24, FLOW fm, WinTV, WinRadio, El Dorado Rum, The Canadian Federal Government, The Province of Ontario, City of Toronto, Tourism Toronto, The Greater Toronto Airports Authority, Ontario Place, Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario Science Centre, Toronto Public Library, Yorkgate Mall, Liberty Grand, and Grace Kennedy Foods.

For more information about the programmes and events, please visit the festival’s official website at www.torontocaribbeancarnival.com. The Festival Office is NOW located at 19 Waterman Avenue. Contact info: Tel: 416-391-5608; Fax: 416-391-5693; Email: info@ torontocaribbeancarnival.com.

Stephen Weir Festival Publicist. Phone 416-489-5868 Cell: 416-801-3101 Email: Stephen@stephenweir.com                                                        

Scotiabank Caribana has been laid to rest - long live Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival (or is it Caribbean Carnival Toronto)

New Name: Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival Turns Up the Heat this Summer. Same Festival. Same Vibe!

pictures from the presser

On May 25th The Festival Management Committee announced a new name to the Festival that has captured an audience of more than 1.2 million people annually on the August long weekend: The Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival.
The Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival (STCC) will be back in July with the same line up of events featuring the Toronto Mas Band Association, the Organization of Calypso Performing Artistes and the Pannists, as well as an array of new programming leading up to the Parade on July 31st.
“This is the 44th year for the Parade, and all of the participants are preparing for another major turnout of attendees this summer,” said Denise Hererra Jackson, CEO of the FMC. “Rebranding ourselves as the Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival helps us resolve any ongoing trademark issues around the old Festival name, and allows us to move forward with an exciting program that will appeal to members of the community of all ages.”

“The Festival is an important summer celebration of diversity through arts and culture in Toronto and as such, is important to the roots of this city,” said Chris Alexander, CFO of the FMC. “The Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival will continue to grow and meet the needs of the attendees, while reinforcing its relationships with the Toronto community, its sponsors and other stakeholders.”
In addition to its commitment of title sponsor, Scotiabank and the FMC announced today they will donate a total of $2,500 in prize money to the Pan and Calypso competition, with the first place performers receiving a $1,500 prize, $1,000 to second place and $500 to third place.
“Scotiabank’s partnership with the FMC opened an exciting new chapter for the Bank – given our extensive presence in the Caribbean and the importance of this event to the City, our customers and our employees, this event is a natural fit for us,” said John Doig, Scotiabank Senior Vice-President, Toronto Region. “Today we have come together to reinforce our support for the Festival Management Committee – their decision to rename the Festival the Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival reflects our diverse and multicultural communities. We’re looking forward to a great festival!”
The STCC has released the official programme for the summer festivities today, and festival goers will see new additions, including a sports component featuring athletics of the Rugby League. Programme details can be found in the backgrounder and a new name and logo will appear in all marketing materials as well as on the revised interactive website, www.torontocaribbeancarnival.com.
About the Festival:

The Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival is an exciting three-week cultural explosion of Caribbean music, cuisine, revelry as well as visual and performing arts. Now in its 44th year, it has become a major international event and the largest cultural festival of its kind in North America. As Carnival is an international cultural phenomenon, the great metropolis of Toronto and its environs will come alive as the city explodes with the pulsating rhythms and melodies of Calypso, Soca, Reggae, Chutney, Steel Pan and Brass Bands. The Festival Management Committee is responsible for the managing and staging of North America’s largest outdoor festival.
Corporate sponsors of this year's festival include: Scotiabank, The Toronto Star, Sway Magazine, The Grid, CTV, CP24, The Federal Government of Canada, The Province of Ontario, The City of Toronto, Tourism Toronto, Mobilicity, The Greater Toronto Airports Authority, Ontario Place, Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario Science Centre, Toronto Public Libraries, Yorkgate Mall, Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex & Liberty Entertainment Group, The Caribbean Camera Newspaper, Toronto-Lime.Com, and GraceKennedy (Ontario) Inc.

The Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival Office is located at 263 Davenport Avenue, Lower Level; Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5R 1E9. Contact info: Tel: 416-391-5608; Fax: 416-391-5693; Email: Stephen@stephenweir.com CUTLINES:
Top: Press conference was held on an empty floor of the Scotiabank Tower in downtown Toronto. Over 55 journalists representing media outlets in 5 different countries, crowded onto the 59th floor to learn the new name of Scotiabank Caribana.
Second from top: The festivals CFO, Chris Alexander introduces the new name: Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival. Too bad the artwork on stage had a slightly different name that was instantly picked up by the press.
Second from bottom: I spent much of the press conference on the ground level of the Scotiabank Tower, registering guests near the elevators. I did get to watch the events unfold in the nearby coffee shop which ran a live feed on CP24. Scotiabank vice-president John Doig is on screen.
Botom: over a dozen mas camp models attended the presser and assisted with the photo sessions. Two models are from Tru Dynasty.
For more information about the programs and events, please visit the festival’s official website at www.torontocaribbeancarnival.com.

Chris Alexander speaks at Multicultural Marketing Conference

COMPANIES WHO IGNORING THE SUMMER CARNIVAL FESTIVAL ARE MISSING THE MARKETING AND SPONSORSHIP BOAT

Canada's national Marketing Magazine held a Multicultural Marketing Conference in Toronto earlier this year and called upon one of the organizers of the Toronto's summer carnival festival (formerly called Scotiabank Caribana) to talk about multi-ethnic marketing.

Chris Alexander, the CFO of the carnival festival addressed a standing room only audience and told them that corporations and sponsors who ignore the city's multi-ethnic auidence are "missing the boat". He presented economic data about the impact of the summer festival to the approximately 200 attendees during his keynote speech.

Earlier in the conference people learned one in five Canadians are foreign-born, which is the highest proportion in the population since 1931. Chris Alexander told his audience that while the festival celebrates Caribbean culture (and attracts 1.2 million people in doing it), it is also attracting new immigrants from countries and cultures all over the world who come down to the parade to see what is going on!

Pictured above Chris Alexander, right, talks to two attendees of the Multicultural Marketing Conference, held in March at the Royal York hotel.