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(Posted 9
a.m., Feb. 18)
Carivibe event will bring West Indies flavour to Orléans
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
On
June 19, St. Joseph Blvd. will be turned into a river of Caribbean culture as
Carivibe 2010 comes to Orléans to spice things up with a traditional Caribbean
festival parade followed by a jump up party on Petrie Island. Traditionally
held at the Rideau Carleton Raceway, Carivibe will make its first foray into the
east end where all three of the organization's directors reside. Co-organizer
David Mason says the goal of this year's event is to tap into the east end's growing
Caribbean community and non-Caribbean fans of the islands' music, food and culture
to throw a party unlike anything Orléans has ever seen or experienced before. The
parade will feature richly decorated floats blasting traditional Caribbean music
including soca, zouk, calypso, merengue and dance hall, while celebrants walk
along side in lavish costumes. Onlookers
will also be encouraged to join in as the parade makes its way down St. Joseph
Blvd. to Trim Road at which point it will make a sharp lefthand turn down the
Petrie Island causeway to the beach where the party will really start jumping. There
will be a main stage with a full lineup of live music as well as a second stage
dubbed "Five Minutes of Fame" where youngsters will compete for the
crowd's adulation and lots of prizes. Besides
the music there will be planty of food to tantalize your taste buds from the various
Cairbbean islands including Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Haiti, Bahamas,
Granada, Cuba etc. There
will also be lots of children's activities, beach volleyball and perhaps even
a limbo contest. "It's
going to be off the chart," Mason promises. "There be lots of music
and food and plenty of refreshment. Pretty much something for everyone." Mason
hails from St. Lucia. His cousin and co-organizer Trevor is from Grenada and the
third partner, Dennis Mayers is from Barbados. As
a warm-up to the big event, Carivibe is holding a fundraiser for Haiti at the
Parliament Ultra Club at 151 George St. in the market. The
benefit dance will feature several Haitian DJs from the National Capital who will
be playing music native to the island including zouk and kompa. Tickets are $10
each and the doors open at 10 p.m. Proceeds
from the event will given to the Canadian Red Cross in support of the 2010 Haiti
Earthquake Appeal. All the DJs are donating their time and the venue is being
provided by Ottawa Venues at no cost to the organizers. For
more information about Carivibe 2010 visit www.carivibe.com. (This
story was made possible thanks to thie generous support of our local
business partners.) Return
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