Revellers and children perform on stage at the opening ceremony of the 2013 Toronto Caribbean Carnival at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, Canada, July 9, 2013

Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto is an exciting three-week cultural explosion of Caribbean music, cuisine, revelry as well as visual and performing arts. In its 46th year it has become a major international event and the largest cultural festival of its kind in North America. As Carnival is an international cultural phenomenon, the great metropolis of Toronto and its environs will come alive as the city explodes with the pulsating rhythms and melodies of Calypso, Soca, Reggae, Hip Hop, Chutney, Steel Pan and Brass Bands. This colourful exhibition and display of genius is truly a musical panorama that is certain to bring a pleasing smile to the ancestral titans of Pan and Calypso music.

Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto is an expression of Toronto’s multicultural and multiracial society. An increasing number of attendees and participants come from the US and overseas. The events are planned months in advance. The costumes and mas band displays are elaborate and oh so delicately worn and designed for movement. Every move they make, in a breath-taking spectrum of colours that is best reflected in the King and Queen Showcase on Parade Day. No Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto is complete without African Drumming along with the Arts and Crafts displays celebrating “Things Caribbean”!

In 2013, Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto season is destined to be six (6) weeks culminating in the pinnacle of Parade Day on the Lakeshore with a kaleidoscope of music, colourful costumes, theatrical mas band displays, steel bands beating intricate orchestrations coupled with mouth watering feasts of Caribbean cuisine and delicacies.