Ubder the theme, "Caribbean Escape," this year's Taste of the Caribbean festival, the 13th since its inception, will take place Sunday, May 27, 20 1 2 at Marché Bonsecours in Old Montreal. It will feature over 75 Caribbean dishes from over 14 Caribbean countries prepared by local and visiting Caribbean executive chefs. Escape to the Caribbean at A Taste of The Caribbean 2012 without leaving Montreal. Early Bird tickets are on sale until March 3 1 at all fine locations: VlP $115, General Admission $45. Available at Maison de Beauté Doreens, Caribbean Curry House, Shamies Boutique, Princessa, Marché West Island, Marché Colonnades. Early Bird, until March 31, $115, after $125.
Kuumba [Koo-oom-bah] is the Swahili word for creativity. It's also Harbourfront Centre's Black History Month celebration that educates, enlivens and entertains with local and international artists from the African and Caribbean diaspora. Festival highlights include the Voices from Days of Slavery exhibit featuring the audio testimonials of former slaves, the thought-provoking play Man2Man exploring black male sexuality, a hilarious Ebony & Ivory Comedy Bash ($15) pitting white and black comedians against each other, and a high energy Beat the Street Dance Showdown ($10) featuring Toronto's hottest street dance teams. The grand re-opening of Miss Lou's Room will also be a highlight for kids and their families, little ones can gather and listen to some of Toronto's best storytellers weave tall tales of adventure, mystery and intrigue with fabled Anancy stories (Caribbean folk tales).
Haitian Catholic artists are as excited about this event as the rest of the community is. Some of them will attend the convention, and Jean Robert Themistocle, one of the pioneers of the organization of Haitian Catholic artists in the diaspora, composed a song based on the theme of the convention. The guests at the convention will be the first to hear and to sing this song with Jean Robert. It is a time of great grace for the Haitian community in the diaspora.
Traditional drumming, choreography and songs by legendary singer/dancer, La Sosso and Trass' La" will give the night an Afro-Caribbean flan. Also appearing will be the upbeat and energetic "Jeff Joseph & Gramacks New Generation," who is a favorite at festivals in Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint-Martin and Martinique with his mix of reggae, meringue, calypso and soca. Mayer Morisset and Decibel will bring their island spirit to the crowd as well as Christiane Valejo, the internationally known singer/songwriter and zouk sensation from Martinique.
-, "We want more than St. Lucians coming out," said Ted Francis, director of the St. Lucia Cultural Development Foundation, "and towards that end we have put together special combination trips to carnival that will include tours of the island." "The mid-February celebration was complicated," Francis explained, citing St. Lucia's traditional four-day New Year's celebration, observance of its independence and "the shadow of the Trinidad and Tobago carnival."
Plans are underway for St Lucia's Carnival to be held later this year were outlined at a press breakfast meeting by Teddy Francis, Director of Culture, St. Lucia. One of the highlights of this year's carnival scheduled for July 4 -- 20, will be the focus on cultural costumes. "We are putting emphasis on ensuring that the costumes reflect the theme of the carnival, so that our carnival can be differentiated from other carnivals, even though nothing is wrong with other carnivals," Francis said.
On August 11th, the Mayor will march in New York City's largest Dominican parade in Manhattan, which will celebrate the anniversary of The Restoration of the Dominican Constitution on August 16, 1863, when a group of patriots led by Santiago Rodriguez crossed the Dominican border from Haiti and raised the Dominican flag. The other two Dominican parades were held in the Bronx and in Brooklyn earlier in July. The reception included music by "king" of the merengue sound Oro Solido, children performing traditional folk dancing, and was attended by elected officials and representatives of the Dominican community.
AFRICANDO Arts and Culture Festival, a collaboration between the Foundation for Democracy in Africa and Miami-Dade County, is a one-day event that will feature contemporary African, Afro-American, Caribbean & Afro-Latino cultures. MDCC and the Black Heritage Museum will display masks, statues and murals from the Caribbean, South America, Brazil and Cuba. A special "Children's Activities Village" will feature traditional African and Caribbean folk tales, puppet shows, African mask and instrument making, African textile weaving, Miami Metrozoo's exotic animal show and more. The festival, which is the closing event for AFRICANDO 2001, will be promoted in Africa, AFRICANDO organizers say. A trade delegation from Miami and Washington, D.C., will conduct trade seminars promoting the conference and festival in Nigeria, Mali, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania.
There are three reasons why I think we have missed the Windrush boat. The first is that we have not really controlled this event but allowed it to be run by `caring' local authorities. I never really understood why we should wait for grants from the council to construct our own memorial of significant anniversaries. This dependent or entitlement mentality has meant that we are always waiting for a handout to make things work. The irony of this is that those who came on the Windrush were in search of a better life where their own efforts counted for something compared to dread of their colonial existence in the Caribbean.
Mayor [Rudolph Giuliani] proclaimed Monday, August 4, "Jamaica Independence Day" in the city. He presented Jamaica's consul general to New York - Fay Baxter-Collins - and Jamaica's permanent representative to the United Nations - Ambassador Patricia Durrant - with a written proclamation of "Jamaica Independence Day".
