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Since 1967

1967

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Since 1967

Remember Caribana

The festival the community built, the way we remember it. Press play, then look back.

This video is hosted on YouTube. Watch it on YouTube.

Back in 1967

For Canada's centennial, a committee of West Indian volunteers set out to give the country a Caribbean festival.

The community raised $46,000 of the $50,000 budget itself.

About 1,000 masqueraders and pan players took to the streets for the first parade.

Shoppers ran out of Eaton's and Simpsons to see what the sound was.

Caribana was meant to happen once. The mayor asked them to do it again.

The way it looked

  • Black-and-white photograph of a steelband in matching jackets playing steel pans marked Esso, with onlookers in the foreground
    1967 · Centre Island
  • Black-and-white photograph taken from above of musicians playing drums on a flatbed truck in a street parade, with crowds along the road
    1967 · Varsity Stadium
  • Black-and-white photograph of a street packed with people and cars during a festival, with costumed revellers on the left
    1971 · Yonge Street
  • Black-and-white photograph of a masquerader in a large butterfly costume with spotted wings riding a float along a wet street in the rain
    1976
  • Black-and-white photograph of a masquerader in a fish-headed costume with huge transparent wings patterned with fish and bubbles
    1980 · University Avenue

And then it grew

Bands grew from groups of friends into sections of hundreds.

Steelbands like Afropan, founded in 1973, trained generations of players.

Toronto produced its own Kings, Queens and calypso monarchs.

Our position

It is Caribana, and it should still be called Caribana.

We want order restored, so that the festival serves the community that built it.

In 2011, an Ontario court confirmed that the Caribana name belongs to the Caribana Arts Group. We continue to keep the story, protect the name and pass the culture on.

Keep reading

Last reviewed: 10 October 2026.