Cariwest Festival 2013 – Edmonton, Alberta
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The thing about using up your vacation days to take a Masters degree is that you then make the most of every day and weekend of the summer. This weekend was the Cariwest festival so technically I wan’t in Edmonton, but the Caribbean or so I like to imagine.
Cariwest is a three-day Caribbean Arts Festival that takes place annually in downtown Edmonton. It originally began in 1984 as part of the Klondike Days (K-Days) Parade and was a way for Caribbean immigrants to celebrate and share their culture.
The festival showcases the talents of musicians and dancers from all over the world and mixes the melodies of Soca, Steel Pan, Reggae, Hip Hop, Calypso and Brass Bands, which gets everyone bouncing. There was also a pre-festival event that crowned this year’s Miss Cariwest, Candace Dower.
While I had eaten a large brunch before the festival started it was soon an easy to regret choice because of all the tantalizing smells of coconut, curry, jerk chicken, mango and spices of Caribbean cuisine.
Watching the parade and meandering around the Caribbean village I wished I had worn more vibrant colours. The costumes were decked out in sparkles, dangly gems, feathers and see-through wraps. It made me want my next trip to be to New Orelans for Mardi Gras.
The music inspired everyone to dance from the small ones to the adults, everyone was shakin it or “D Bouncin’ Start” as was the theme of this year’s Cariwest Festival.
Here’s a taste of the action:
There are five words to summarize today’s festival: colour, glitter, music, dance, happiness.
What’s your favorite festival in your hometown?
What a fun event! Thanks for creating the video. I enjoyed it. Good luck with your Masters. 🙂
Thanks Jolyse. It was really fun. Loved the music, dancing and colourful costumes.
I really wanted to go to Cariwest this year (I’ve never been), but I was too busy. Looks like it was a great event – I’ll have to try to go next year.
It really was fun!