De Caribana Lime gives sweet vibes
By Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew
Originally published by thestar.com
Christina Thomas, 2, dances at De Scotiabank Caribana Lime. Toronto Star/Andrew Wallace
Two-year-old Christina Thomas went to De Caribana Lime party at Ontario Place and, oh yes, she brought the cute.
Big brown eyes, brown dress down to chubby knees, hands in the air, distracted only for a moment by the puddle a few feet away.
When the beautiful lady singing on stage, Rita Jones of the Roy Cape All Stars, pointed to her own derriere and instructed the crowd to “Move it any way you know how to move it,” little Christina did just that.
For Christina’s clan, the annual Caribana festival doubles as a family reunion.
“Every year, we all come to Caribana,” said Christina’s aunt, Judy Cushnie of Markham. That’s nine sisters and one brother, along with their assorted partners and children.
“I like to see all the people, all ages, all nationalities, under one roof having fun,” Judy’s sister Lorraine Thomas chimed in.
Even better when the roof is a blazing blue sky on a hot summer day.
Another sister, Doreen Whittingham, makes the trip every year that she can from Cleveland, Ohio. “I love it 100 per cent,” she said.
The parade on Saturday, of course, is Whittingham’s favourite part, but she does prefer the lime – a more-laid back party – at Ontario Place, rather than Centre Island. The event moved over last year.
Caribana’s raucous parade typically grabs the spotlight. But the lime is meant to give visitors another taste of Caribbean culture. The air pounds with steel pan, soca, and reggae, and there are long lines for jerk chicken, oxtail, and doubles.
New to the event this year was the Caribbean Food Festival, offering more delicacies from celebrity chefs from Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and Guyana.
The Bahamas Junkanoo Players opened the lime, heralding their first official appearance at a Caribana event.
“They wanted to invite the other islands,” said Denise Huyler, a member of the mas band, clad in felt, beads, and feathers. “It’s another flavour. Caribana is growing.”
The band played cowbells, goatskin drums, and a tuba, while Huyler kept them in time with her whistle and the stomp of her feet. Next year, the band hopes to join in the Caribana parade.
Homeira Ahmadi, visiting for just four days from Iran, delighted in her good luck. She had no idea about De Lime, but came down after the hotel concierge suggested she might like to see it.
“It’s amazing, the singing, the dancing. I like it all,” she said, eyes wide as she looked around.
Ahmadi had her picture taken with a Bahamas Junkanoo, then for fun, tried on his headpiece, too.
Food, music and dance were set to last through the early evening.
By mid-afternoon, the crowd was filling in nicely. Trinidadian soca star Shurwayne Winchester took to the stage and bawled “Look, the band coming,” before hopping down in front to demonstrate some dance moves.
He was just getting warmed up. “We takin’ the tempo up right now. Let’s see how much energy you really got.”
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