Yesterday on Olympic Island, they danced to soca, feasted on jerk chicken, and enjoyed island vibes for the last time as this year's Caribana festival came to a close.
By Christopher MaughanBut if you thought the squabbling over the administration and funding of Caribana was over, guess again.
The new city-appointed organizer, the Festival Management Committee (FMC), is already calling this year's Caribana a success, but the Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC) has promised a fight to regain control of the festival by its 40th anniversary, which falls next year.
The CCC had been running the show since it started in 1967. They lost control of the festival after the city, citing poor auditing practices, refused to contribute $400,000 in sponsorships.
Instead, the city awarded the money to the Toronto Mas Bands Association and appointed the FMC as organizer.
Now, at age 72, the CCC's very first chairman has come back into the fold to try to re-establish the group's credibility and win back the festival he helped create.
"We have our own views on how the events should be run," Toronto lawyer Charles Roach said in an interview last week. Since then, he's even hinted at taking the matter to court.
But the FMC is saying that given this year's solid showing, it should be allowed to maintain its organizing role.
"Given the timeframe, there was apprehension about whether we could put on the event," said Eddison Doyle, Caribana's new chief operating officer. "But it's been a great festival."
Because of the controversy — and even protests — surrounding the city's decision, the FMC had only 10 weeks to plan this year's event. Doyle said that working for a full year, or even the standard four months, he could have put together an even bigger, better Caribana.
Joe Halstead, chair of the FMC's board of directors, vowed that unlike past audits by the CCC, this year's would be transparent and complete.
"I want to be able to say to the public, `Here are the results, here is the report, and thanks for the opportunity,'" he said, adding that he expects the final numbers to be in by the end of September.
In past years, city officials were left scratching their heads at how Caribana could bring in over 1 million people and yet still run a deficit.
Halstead promised things will be different this time.
"We should break even easily," he said.
Though police estimated just fewer than 1 million people attended Saturday's parade, Halstead said the number was more like 1.2 million. And he's so excited about the festival that despite the uncertainty over whether the FMC is here to stay, he's already thinking about changes for next year's edition.
"I think we need to ask the city and province to start flowing in the money earlier," he said. That way the FMC could have people working year-round to promote and develop Caribana.
John Kam, a former CCC chair who's now an FMC board member, is also thinking ahead.
"We need to move our King and Queen show to a classier facility (than Lamport Stadium)," he said. "We don't have any firm plans in place, but I'm thinking about maybe the new soccer stadium or Rogers Centre."
Kam said there's no way the CCC could take over by next year unless it underwent a major reorganization.
"The board has always been fractious and divided. You have different cliques."
Kam, a member of Trinidad's Asian minority, said things got so bad that some board members started calling him racist names.
"You're only as good as the people around you," he said of his inability to make the CCC work.
But Roach and his supporters still have faith in their organization. He said it comes down to having a better vision of what Caribana should be.
"Some people, including myself, want to root the festival more in its historical and cultural setting. It should be more historical, more imaginative," he said. "And there's too much focus on Trinidad to the exclusion of other islands' cultures."
Many of the spectators at yesterday's cultural show were apathetic about who was running it, so long as everyone has a good time.
But Sonni Ali, who's been coming to Caribana off and on since the 1970s, said he supported the CCC and its efforts to get Caribana back.
"Look at the arts and crafts, there's no vendors here," he said, pointing to a cluster of just four tents, most of which sold flags, lanyards, and plastic bracelets that didn't quite qualify as authentic Caribbean fare.
Halstead admitted the two-day event on Olympic Island was not all it could be.
"I think we need to bring in a visual arts show, more dramatic arts and a broader range of Caribbean culture," he said.
So there's at least one area where the FMC and the CCC agree.
It's not much, but it's a start.
