Organizers of 2023 Toronto Caribbean Carnival Promise the Best

 By Neil Armstrong

Playing was at the media launch of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival at the Ontario Science Centre on May 31, 2023

 

The producers of the upcoming annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival are promising the best Caribbean carnival in the world under the theme “diversity and culture live here.”

 

Jennifer Hirlehey, chair of the Festival Management Committee, said that is their strategic direction this year at the media launch of the carnival held at the Ontario Science Centre. 

 

The official launch of the festival will take place on July 11 at Nathan Phillips Square and the grand parade will be on August 5 along Lakeshore Boulevar West and Exhibition Place following the King and Queen Showcase on August 3 at Lamport Stadium and Pan Alive Panorama at the same venue on August 4.

 

“To do this, we celebrate the fact that diversity and culture live here. Our job at the Toronto Caribbean Carnival is to spread joy, to promote diversity, and to highlight our community’s talents. We must lift ourselves up beyond the mas, we must uplift our community in business, education, and opportunity.”

 

Hirlehey said the first major step they took this year was to invite all stakeholder organizations—the Toronto Mas Bands Association, the Ontario Steelpan Association, and the Organization of Calypso Performing Artistes—to be on the board of the FMC, something she described as a no-brainer.

 

Their second major objective this year was to develop their Building Black Entrepreneurs education program that helps entrepreneurs to build and grow their businesses. The FMC has also started an education program focused on developing Caribbean culture in schools in the city so that students can be proud of their heritage.

 

Jennifer Hirlehey, Chair, Festival Management Committee, producer of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival

“The Toronto Caribbean Carnival sees ourselves as the preeminent vehicle to promote and foster diversity not only in schools but in our businesses. We created a corporate employee engagement program and that program helps employers with their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives so that way their employees feel empowered, the employees feel welcomed as a part of the community and part of the corporate community.”

 

Hirlehey said it is very expensive to produce the carnival and to have the kinds of initiatives that make the difference. 

 

“The cost of the carnival this year has gone up significantly. We, the management team, we have the responsibility of being fiscally responsible when producing the Toronto Caribbean Carnival,” she said, nothing that even while doing so they need funding from the different levels of government. 

 

“While we appreciate the level of funding we currently have it is not sufficient to put on this carnival in the way that it deserves to be put on.”

 

The FMC’s chair said the carnival contributes approximately half a billion dollars to Ontario’s economy yet year-over-year funding through grants has decreased. Last year, the carnival accounted for $180 million in federal, provincial and municipal tax revenues yet funding for the carnival does not reflect the significant economic impact it has on the Canadian economy. 

 

She also noted that businesses benefit substantially from the carnival, hotel rooms are fully booked, major restaurants are busy, yet the level of corporate sponsorship to the Toronto Caribbean Carnival does not reflect the economic impact it has on those businesses. 

 

The FMC has reenergized its sponsorship program and has developed relationships with forward thinking companies who appreciate and welcome their diversity, she said. These include companies such as Metrolinx, Grace Foods, Bell Media and new sponsors such as Porter Airlines and the Toronto Football Club. 

 

Mischka Crichton, CEO, Festival Management Committee

 

Mischka Crichton, chief executive officer of the FMC, said in 2022 there were 3, 341 direct jobs created because of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival.

 

“I’m just so thrilled to be able to represent this carnival that raised me. My parents didn’t have to get on a plane to teach me about my culture and about my heritage. When other families went on family vacations, my family did the carnival during the summer so it’s so special and dear to me. I owe this carnival so much,” said Crichton who first played mas when she was four years old. Her mother made a kid’s version of her own costume to take Mischka on University Avenue where the parade lasted for two hours.

 

Crichton said the Toronto carnival is not only for Caribbean people but it is for all people and has been ranked the most diverse festival in the world.

 

She said the theme for this year recognizes FMC and the Toronto Caribbean Carnival as an unparalleled community-led cultural asset bringing together intergenerational leadership, communities, and stakeholders from all backgrounds and represent a long-lasting legacy. 

 

The CEO said there are benefits and challenges to intergenerational leadership but the most important thing is having a team and she likes having the best thinking around the table for decision-making. She said with a festival like the carnival that has been around for 56 years they cannot forget about their past and where they started. Crichton said she respects everyone who came before her and she wants to know what their dreams were for the carnival in the future—of which she is now a part.

 

Also speaking at the event was Toronto councillor Michael Thompson who said the reason corporate sponsors were not running to the Festival Management Committee was because “we have been a fractured community for quite some time as an organization.” He said the new leadership of the FMC is transforming that situation. In keeping with that theme, calypsonian Henry “King Cosmos” Gomez performed the song “Let’s Pull Together” at the media launch.

Calypsonian Henry "King Cosmos" Gomez performing "Let's Pull Together" a the media launch of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival

Dr. Rita Cox and Henry "King Cosmos" Gomez at the media launch at the Ontario Science Centre

 

Joe Sellors, acting director of arts and culture services at the City of Toronto, said his department works on grants to festival organizers and the FMC is a recipient. He said the carnival brings 1.65 million people to the event and he considers it one of the largest festivals that the City of Toronto produces. Sellors noted that 45 per cent of attendees come from outside Toronto which means people are staying in hotels, eating at local restaurants and spending their hard-earned dollars on Toronto’s economy. 

 

The event featured a steelpan band and the costumes of some of the mas bands that will be chipping along Lakeshore Boulevard. The Junior King and Queen Showcase will be held at the Scarborough Town Centre on July 16 and the Junior Carnival Parade will be at Malvern Community Centre and Neilson Park on July 22. The official launch on July 11 will take place in two sessions: a mid-morning event to capture the media cycle of news at noon, and a later event between 4:00-8:00 p.m. with deejays for the after-work crowd. Both are free events.