Categories: Things To Do

Calgary’s largest Caribbean festival returns to downtown core

Photo via Carifest

In the 1980s, a group of Caribbean-Calgarians formed the CanCarib Association. Driven by a responsibility to educate the local community about Caribbean culture, the group was focused on letting the community know that Carnival encompasses so much more than just food and music.

Fast-forward to today, and Carifest has exploded to become Calgary’s largest street festival, with a parade through the city’s downtown core that rivals that of the Calgary Stampede and other annual marches like Calgary Pride.

Carifest Calgary returns Aug. 15 to 17, bringing the heat and marking the end of summer with a celebration that will include a parade march down 8th Avenue. There will also be a number of free curated arts events dedicated to uplifting Caribbean culture, heritage and spirit.

What to expect

The explosion of colour seen at Carifest has traditions rooted in 18th-century Trinidad and Tobago, where people have been coming together for hundreds of years to celebrate Carnival.

Mas — short for ‘masquerade’ — started in the late 18th century as a reaction to French plantation owners who organized balls, dinners and parties from Christmas to the commencement of Lent. These lavish traditions and opulent displays of colonial wealth intentionally excluded Caribbean slaves, who responded by creating their own celebration as a form of both cultural expression and protest.

Today, Mas and activism go hand-in-hand. Many Caribbeans were barred from participating in these celebrations until post-emancipation. At Carifest, participants are encouraged to discover, register for and play mas with the festival’s masquerade bands.

You can expect stunning, feather-embowed costumes, and plenty of characters dancing in procession to the riddim of musical bands at the grand parade on Aug. 16. The parade will march from Centre Street SW and end at Cowboys Park, where a carnival celebrating Caribbean food, art, music and dance will take place until the late evening.

Saturday’s Carnival in the Park will be hosted by Drew Atlas and feature plenty of Canadian-Caribbean talent, including Jaxx from Toronto alongside Benjai from Trinidad and Tobago and Problem Child from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Both the parade and accompanying celebration are free to attend, with plenty of dancing, music and delicious food.

Caribbean cultural programming

Carifest will also play host to a number of cultural events leading up to Saturday’s parade, with an all-ages cultural dance conference taking over Evolving Movement Arts on Thursday, Aug. 14 and a free workshop celebrating the importance of the drum at Cowboys Park on Aug. 15.

There will also be a night carnival on Friday at Contemporary Calgary, hosting a series of DJs that will keep you dancing until the other shoe drops at midnight.

So gear up and get ready to celebrate Caribbean culture and heritage here in Cowtown. We can’t wait!