Press Release

Caribfest - Barrie's Caribbean Festival

For Immediate Release
Contact Ricardo Rowe
Tel: 705-792-6952
Cell: 705-790-4878
Email: info@caribfest.ca
www.caribfest.ca

Caribfest Takes to the Streets of Downtown Barrie
Barrie's second annual Caribfest takes place on August 16 and 17, 2008 at Centennial Park in Barrie. The activities will extend throughout downtown Barrie as the costume parade winds its way through the downtown streets, along Lakeshore Drive to Centennial Park, the location of the main stage.

Downtown Barrie will come alive with this colourful display of costumes, floats and masqueraders dancing to pulsating Caribbean rhythms along the parade route. The magnificently designed costumes coupled with the sounds of Caribbean music will present a spectacle that has never been seen on the streets of Barrie.
Costumes from the Toronto Caribbean Festival will form part of the parade, however we are designing costumes here in Barrie, using the theme of the Spirit Catcher. Based on the Aboriginal mythical Thunder Bird, the Spirit Catcher statue is prominently positioned on the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, and is the figure most widely associated with the City. Although the costume parade will be a major attraction, equally impressive is the line up of rock, samba, reggae, calypso, steel pan
and soca musicians who will be performing.

The two day event kicks off with a Costume Parade through Downtown Barrie on Saturday, August 16 starting at 1:00 p.m. at Queens Park and ending at Centennial Park on Lakeshore Drive with a Caribbean music stage show. The fun continues later in the night with an after party show at the Foundation Night Club, featuring the Mountain Edge Band. The second day, Sunday August 17, starts with a Caribbean style Gospel Fest from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The main festivity, the Caribbean Beach Party, starts at 1:00 p.m. and includes a huge line up of the best Canadian based Caribbean performers. Among the activities on August 17 is a children's village that will have a wide range of activities including a traditional Trinidadian "Pan Yard". This area will have an interactive steel pan display with musicians performing steel pan music, demonstrations about the making of the steel pan and the opportunity for the audience to learn to play simple tunes on the steel pan.

For more information please go to www.caribfest.ca, call 705-790-4878 or email Ricardo at info@caribfest.ca