Carifiesta

Carifiesta (French: Carifête) is an annual Caribbean Carnival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was established in 1974, and is held in July. The parade was cancelled in the 1990’s due to conflict and gun violence. As the situation progressed most of the participants moved to Toronto Caribana. In 2010 the parade was called off due to a legal battle between promoters Henry Antoine and Everist Blaise, the city of Montreal. .This resulted many groups to pull out and a struggle to maintain a street parade. The organization had put in place in 2019 a new president: Jason Forbes, who resigned in 2021 because of profit and organization issues. In 2023 The parade was cancelled. The city of Montreal denied the funding of the parade.[1] The event is coordinated by the Caribbean Cultural Festivities Association, a nonprofit organization. Carifiesta was established prior to some Carnivals that take place in the Caribbean, for example, Cayman Carnival Batabano. Carifiesta has also been named the largest North-American running Caribbean Street Parade.[2]

Carifiesta
Formation1974
TypeCultural festival
Legal statusActive, non-profit
PurposeCelebration of Caribbean heritage
HeadquartersMontreal, Quebec, Canada
Official language
English, French
Parent organization
Caribbean Cultural Festivities Association
Budget
35.000$
Volunteers
1
WebsiteCarifiesta

Carifiesta does not celebrate any singular Caribbean culture, rather it is meant to celebrate them all coming together.[3] It features culture, music, art, and carnival costumes.[2] Many Caribbean people or people of Caribbean descendants find that Carifiesta is a way for them to celebrate their heritage away from home.

Events

Parade

The main feature of the carnival is a parade along Saint-Catherine Street with people representing various countries in the Caribbean. Flatbed trucks carry disk jockeys playing turntables. Soca music and calypso music are played on speakers. The participants in the parade, dressed in colorful costumes, wave flags, blow whistles, and dance.[4]

Junior Parade

A Carifiesta junior carnival, for kids aged 2 to 16, is held one week prior to the main parade, and is intended to introduce children to Caribbean culture. The day after the main parade, is the Carifiesta Cooldown, held at Parc Jean-Drapeau, which is a family oriented event featuring performances by local and international guest artists.[3] 2017 will be the 5th year that the junior carnival has taken place. The parade officially begins at noon, at the Bill Durnan arena, and ends at Van Horne Park.[5]

2011 Carifiesta parade at the corner of René Lévesque Boulevard and Guy Street.

Costumes

The costumes worn at Carifiesta are similar to those of other Caribbean Carnival celebrations. They are designed to show a lot of skin and feature bright colors, beading, and exotic headdresses. Women will typically be seen in bikini-style outfits, covered in gems, beads, and sequins, and adorned with feathered headdresses to match. Male costumes consist of decorated, and colorful shorts, paired with beaded neck pieces.[5] Costumes at Carifiesta vary from the typically skin-bearing costumes, some people will wear costumes with a more obvious theme that will offer more coverage. Some dress in apparel that comes from the era in which their ancestors were enslaved, to call attention to their heritage. Since 2014 there have been more carnival bands doing Jab throwing, oil, mud, paint, ink like its J'ouvert.

History

In 1995 the parade was cancelled to do conflict and gun shootings. In 2010 the parade was cancelled due to conflict, as Henery Antoine and Everiste Blaize disputed how and by whom the parade should be organized. The two promoters were not able to resolve their differences and work together. Several years later they were still unable to come to terms. In 2013 Blaize was again in conflict. The issue escalated When partners where not happy with CCFA. In 2016 the parade when on with less than 100 participants in costume and less than 10 floats also the organization is financially unstable. The election of Jason Forbes took place in 2018 and he struggled and Work extremely hard to bring to community together. But it was to late with the beginning of the covid pandemic Jason Forbes announced that he will resign on June 1 2021.[3]

See also

References
  1. Burnett, Richard (July 7, 2011). "Roots of Carifiesta: Hard at work in Montreal's Roots mas camp". Montreal: The Gazette. Archived from the original on April 18, 2013. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  2. "CARIFIESTA 2016 – Montreal's Official Caribbean Carnival Street Parade & Festival! Le Grand Carnaval De Montréal 2016". www.canadianfestivalguide.com. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  3. "Carifiesta: Montreal's Chief Carnival Parades July 8". About.com Travel. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  4. Hinkson, Kamila (July 8, 2012). "Carifiesta winds its way through 37th year". Montreal: The Gazette. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  5. "Carifiesta | Parade 2016". carifiesta.com. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
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