<!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Arial; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:10887 -2147483648 8 0 511 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:ArialMT; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-alt:Arial; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} –
Even if you are only remotely religious, you probably still have the vague sense that Carnival — a holiday I cannot rave on about enough — is a cold-weather holiday for just about everybody north of New Orleans. I mean, let’s face it, it’s kind of like a final blowout of fun before the church-mandated dreariness of Lent kicks in, which is only alleviated by Easter. And all that is in very early spring.
So what the hoo-ha is Canada doing with a Carnival in August? Well, just in case you haven’t noticed, Canada in March is…oh, what’s the word…? Ah, yes: FREEZING.
Innovative people that the Canucks are, and self-aware enough that you do not go to the Great White North for the balmy beach weather, but wanting a good party nevertheless, simply up and moved the party to when the weather is a tad more conducive to the skimpy wardrobe we’ve come to know and love. In doing so, the Canadians also have given the northern hemisphere one of the few things it tends to lack — a really, really, really big summertime holiday. Let’s face it, for all the spectacle of it, the 4th of July is only one day.
It’s called Caribana, it takes place August 1-5 in Toronto, and get this: it’s the largest street festival on the continent of North America, drawing in over a million people a year, an amount, by the way that Rio pulls in for its own Carnival. Technically a Caribbean Day parade — expect calypso and soca over samba, Trinidad & Tobago over Brazil — that was quickly subsumed by all the sights, sounds and gravity-defying costumes of Carnival, it takes over the entire city for all five days. Things start off with the King & Queen Show on August 1 at Lamport Stadium and carries through to the parade on the 3rd, starting at 10am at Exhibition Place, traveling down Lakeshore Blvd West and ends at 6pm at Lakeshore and Parkside Drive. Like in New Orleans and Rio, music-playing revelers, called “mas bands,” are all in competition with each other, vying for the most exuberant display.
Caribana, like most Carnivals, isn’t gay in particular, but when you have something this big in Canada’s gay capital (no office to Montreal), it goes without saying that the gay boys will have a their own side-parties. Toronto’s gay stomping grounds, the Fly Nightclub, Pacha Lounge, OhSo, WestWay, MECCA, and Throne, to name just a few, will be exploding with Caribbean colors, beats, and boys. And warm weather.
For more information, go to: www.caribanatoronto.com/. Let Steele Luxury Travel assist with all of your travel planning needs. Call 646-688-2274 or email [email protected] for a luxurious travel experience to Canada!