Toronto Caribbean Carnival Attracts New Sponsors

By Neil Armstrong

Photo credit: Anthony Berot    Masqueraders displaying their costumes at the official launch of the Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival at Nathan Phillips Square on July 10, 2018. The festival runs until August 12 with the Grand Parade happening on August 4.

This year’s Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival has some new sponsors onboard including the rideshare company, Lyft, and Hertz car rentals, among others.

Denise Herrera Jackson, CEO of the Festival Management Committee (FMC), says Lyft has come on as the ride of the carnival and has some incentives for their new and existing customers, including a $20 ride credit to new users.

“Lyft is pretty new in Toronto. They came in for Pride. In fact, when we met with them the marketing manager was saying ‘everybody says you’ve got to get in touch with that carnival in Canada. Don’t do anything else but you’ve got to get in touch with that carnival in Canada.”

She said Hertz is giving a 30 per cent discount for rentals and several sponsors remain supportive of the festival.

The carnival held its official launch at Nathan Phillips Square on July 10 with a cultural showcase of its upcoming events.

There were performances by the Toronto Mas Bands Association, the Organization of Calypso Performing Artists and the Ontario Steelpan Association providing a glimpse of to expect at the summer celebration. 

There will be a photographic exhibition, a follow-up from last year, and Herrera Jackson says since then several photographers formed an organization and will present an exhibition.

She said there was a young group of masquerade designers, Sugarcane Designs, which held a hackathon at Ryerson School of Designs last year to come up with some creations.

“They went back to them and they have a new number of designs,” said the CEO who noted that some were on display at the launch.

“That is a great partnership because you see the traditional masquerade design but this is incorporating 3D Technology and other forms for design to really and truly make up costuming.”

This is the second year for the Junior Carnival King and Queen Showcase which Herrera Jackson said was so admirable to see “little kids, like three or four, their parents making sure that their children start getting a love for who they are, what they can be involved in and being so supportive to make it happen for them.”

She said the Junior Carnival Parade and Family Day in Neilson Park, Scarborough has been growing in leaps and bounds because of the support they are getting from the Malvern community.

The city also appreciates the festival being held outside of the downtown core, she said.

Photo credit: Anthony Berot  Denise Herrera Jackson, CEO, Festival Management Committee speaking at the official launch of the Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival.

With regard to funding from the three levels of government –municipal, provincial and federal – the CEO said the FMC belongs to a group of festivals called the Majors – 11 of them.

They get $625,000 in cash but they get maybe $200,000-$300,000 in services for things like garbage collection, and support from other areas of the city like transportation, road closures, etc.

Herrera Jackson said the funding from the province is competitive funding. They apply to the ‘Celebrate’ fund which is based on them coming up with a new initiative every year.

“That’s new in a sense because it makes us get out of our comfort zone and bring in new initiatives in the festival. So this year we’re talking about trying to make sure the musical part of our festival comes forth.”

She said the federal government requires applying to a fund to which there are several applicants. Applicants do not receive the amount that they need because the fund is apportioned to all those who applied.

This is where some of the challenges are, said the CEO, who believes it is important to encourage “our people to say if you really love our festival and we put it on could you please support us when we ask you to pay an entrance fee.”

Putting on the festival in Exhibition Place costs closely $600,000 for security, fencing, renting, etc.

“So, when people try to say that it’s free, it should be free, you may want it to be free but we’re paying for it,” she said.

Herrera Jackson said this year the FMC joined an organization called Fame which is made up of some major festivals across Canada, like the Calgary Stampede, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Ottawa Jazz & Blues, festivals in Quebec.

Fame seeks the support of the federal government for these festivals and this year is advocating for money for security which is becoming more critical.

La-Toya Fagon, a chef of twist catering, who is from Mandeville, Manchester was at the Grace Kennedy tent at the launch providing refreshments made from the company’s products for the VIP area.

As a chef, Fagon was trained in French and northern Italian cuisine, so she is overjoyed to come back to “my heritage and my roots and to take our food and elevate it is an honour rather than it is work,” she said about participating in the annual carnival.

Her company has been around for 16 years and doing well in the last 8 years as a partner of TIFF and personal chef to the Raptors basketball team, she proudly said.

[This story has been published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, July 19-25, 2018.]