Have all Toronto cultural festivals gone virtual?

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

Depending on who one speaks to these days, the answer to this question could be a definite yes!! Toronto’s cultural festivals have gone virtual and for a good reason too.

From Afro Fest, Jerk Fest, Afro Carib Fest, to the very popular Grenada Day all have decided to use social media platforms to get their musical and cultural message across to the world, “We are still in business.” 

We have been on the hunt for some of the promoters of these summer events, and found a few that spoke with us about why they have taken this virtual bold step.

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The creators and promotional people behind (Grenada Day) were happy to let Toronto Caribbean Newspaper in on their new venture, President Maria Meyers said, “Virtually, what we want to do is to keep up with the culture of Grenada Carriacou and Petti Martinique. Our concentration will be on the last fifteen-years countdown, all the performances, all the acts, all the special guests, the appreciations, the awards leading up to 2021 which is our 15^th anniversary.”

Meyers continued, “We will be hearing congratulative messages from Grenadian artists, from dignitaries like Chief Mark Saunders, and from the first Council General that is a founder of Grenada Day Mrs. Jenny Gumbs. She will be giving a message, and keeping up with the tri-island culture, we will be displaying how to cook our national dish which is called Oil Down. 

We will be giving educational messages, like what is (Shortkneee), which is one of the national mass of the tri-island carnival culture, when did it start, and free giveaways when anyone answers questions about our tri-island history as well.”

Another one of the planners behind Grenada Day is Mr. Terry Branch, the logistics man who is responsible for keeping everyone safe, Branch explains, “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, and since we will not have a live family event this year, we want to add some value virtually to our patrons, sponsors, and vendors, who have contributed to Grenada Day in the past and new-comers as well.

Starting August 15^th, we are engaging in a promotional countdown which will be held on August 22^nd, 2020,” Branch encouraged all to stay tuned to (Pressure Dem radio) for the countdown.

On behalf of the President Miss Meyers, Samantha Thomas ( Vice President), Terry Branch, Sonya Messam the secretary, Geraldine Stafford, Kathy Nickels, and Mr. Kevin Fetenet (who is in charge of entertainment) the Grenada Day crew would like the public to know that all donations are welcome and doners will be advertised on all their platforms. For more information or to make a donation on Grenada Day please go to- https://www.grenadadayfestival.com/.

Also, keeping the virtual fire lighting is Afro-Carib Fest which is in its ninth year, we spoke with Madeline Nwokeji the Program Director of Afro-Carib Fest. Nwokeji told Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, “When COVID-19 happened, we just decided that we did not want to cancel, so we got together to see how we could pool resources together, so we could have a virtual event.

This event will take place on Saturday, August 22^nd, 2020 and will be streamed on YouTube and Twitch. We are very excited about it. We are putting together an amazing selection of artist from Toronto’s Caribbean and African descent.

Even with everything that has happened, obviously, we love to meet with people to celebrate with them but now we cannot do that. We are still rallying around to put something together for the community especially during these challenging times.”

For more information on this event go to the Eventbrite website.