Caribfest Takes to the Streets of Downtown Barrie

The second Barrie Caribfest takes place on August 16 and 17, 2008 at Centennial Park in Barrie.  However, the activities will extend throughout downtown Barrie as the costume parade wind its way through the downtown streets, along Lakeshore Drive to Centennial Park, the location of the main stage. 

Downtown Barrie will come alive with this colorful display of costumes and floats as the masqueraders dance to pulsating Caribbean rhythms along the parade route.  The magnificently colorful costumes coupled with the sounds of Caribbean music will present a spectacle that has never been seen on the streets of Barrie.

Costumes from the Toronto Caribbean Festival will form part of the parade, but in addition we are designing costumes here in Barrie, using the theme of the Spirit Catcher based on the Aboriginal mythical Thunder Bird. The Spirit Catcher Statue is prominently positioned on the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, and is the figure most widely associated with the City.  
Although the costume parade will be a major part of the attraction for the event, equally impressive is the line up of rock, samba, reggae, calypso, steel pan and soca musicians who will be performing

The festivities start with a Costume Band Launch on Friday June 20 at the Foundation Night Club in Barrie.   This is a historic event as it is the first time that a Caribbean Costumes and a launch party, traditions of Carnival, is being held in Barrie.   The fun continues with a Caribbean Dinner and Dance Cruise on the on Kempenfelt Bay on Saturday July 19.  There will also be smaller events at various Downtown Barrie locations.

The two days event kicks off with a Costume Parade through Downtown Barrie on Saturday August 16, starting 1:00 pm at Queens Park and ends at Centennial Park on Lakeshore Drive. There will be a Caribbean music stage show at Centennial Park at the end of the parade.  The fun continues later in the night with an after party show at the Foundation Night Club.  The second day, Sunday August 17 starts with a Caribbean style Gospel Fest from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm.  The main festivities begin at 1:00 pm with a huge line up of the best in Canadian based Caribbean Performers.
Among the activities on August 17 is a children’s village that will have a wide range of activities including a traditional Trinidadian “Pan Yard”. This area will have an interactive steel pan display with musicians performing steel pan music, demonstrations about the making of the steel pan and opportunity for the audience to learn to play simple tunes on the steel pan.

For more information please go to www.caribfest.ca, call 705-790-4878 or email Ricardo at info@caribfest.ca