The Caribbean Cultural Parade returns to Montreal for its 50th anniversary

Content of the article

Montreal's Caribbean cultural festival and parade is back this summer after last year's Carifiesta event was canceled due to lack of city funding.

The Caribbean Coalition Network of Montreal (CCNM) announced that it has received permission from the City of Montreal to organize this year's festivities. This is the 50th anniversary of the festival in the city.

Content of the article

This year's event, which culminates in a parade and includes four separate events after the July 6th party, is called Montreal's Karimas Festival — a combination of “Caribbean” and “masqueraders,” the name of the colorful parade participants.

The route of the parade and the location of the Caribbean Cultural Festival that will follow have not yet been determined.

“We wanted the shows to be more about Caribbean culture this year than just about the parade,” said Chris Bennett, CCNM spokesman. “That's why we'll have two pageants and a children's Karimas festival where only children under 18 participate in the parade, so they can enjoy it to the fullest for themselves.”

Following the parade is Carimas Sizzle, a huge party featuring Caribbean food, culture and music, plus vendors selling items from the islands.

Bennett said the city contacted the local community representation organization representing seven Caribbean islands last year to see if it would bid to host the event after last year's event was canceled.

Content of the article

CCNM was notified by the city on April 3 that it had been selected. But organizers and members of the Caribbean community said that would give them just two months to raise funds and contact float and group leaders to see if they would be participating on short notice.

The city government allocated 30,000 dollars to finance the activities. Organizers say they need to raise another $75,000 to cover other expenses. They couldn't fundraise early because they didn't know they'd be selected until this month.

Organizers of Montreal's annual Carifiesta parade announced last year that the event had been canceled after the city said on May 3 it would not provide them with $30,000 in funding. City officials told a Montreal newspaper that the bid was rejected because there were too many deficiencies that organizers were unable to correct despite repeated requests.

The parade has been held since 1974, although funding was suspended in 2010 due to a dispute between festival organizers and the event was suspended for two years during the pandemic.

Organizers say the 2022 parade is expected to draw more than 100,000 people when it returns from a two-year hiatus, with about 2,000 people participating.

Full details to come.

[email protected]

Share this article on social media