Several thousand Calgarians wore colorful costumes, played traditional music and danced for hours in the downtown streets Saturday morning to celebrate Caribbean culture.
Carifest 2022 featured several cultural groups from Jamaica to Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Brazil and beyond as they paraded from Olympic Plaza to Shaw Millennium Park.
Billed as the city’s biggest festival, organizer Sabrina Naz Comanescu says she’s overwhelmed by community support after two years of canceled events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It meant we were able to get back on the road with all the bands, all the entertainers and all the good vibes,” she said.
“This absolutely characterizes a time for multiculturalism, but especially an eye on Caribbean culture.”
The event was especially significant for members of the Jamaican Canadian Association of Alberta, as they recently celebrated the country’s 60th anniversary of independence from Britain on August 6.
“How can you not have a smile on your face? That’s the freedom of 60 years of independence and you can’t put a price on that,” said Ashford Baker of Calgary’s Jamaican community.
“I’ll tell you something my friend, when the music hits you, you don’t feel pain. I think that’s what we needed to get through this and bring us all back together to share this as one.”
Many different cultural organizations participated in the event with the vast majority dancing to the sweet sounds of Soca music, which is a blend of Calypso, soul, West African, East Indian and Latin influences.
Perhaps the most exciting dance however was called ‘Jab Jab’.
The Grenada-based dance is a celebration of the emancipation of slaves.
Namika Ruben could be seen covered in black paint along with others wearing scary masks to mark the important historical event.
“It originally started with slave masters, they would take molasses and paint their bodies to mark the slave,” he said.
“So after emancipation, the freed slaves took it a little further and turned it into an emancipation celebration. In today’s world, we use it more often to express our true freedom.”
Many vendors also participated in the event which will last until 20:00 on Saturday at Shaw Millennium Park.
The evening will include performances by international Soca artist Patrice Roberts along with Steele & Hardcore Reggae Band from Toronto.
