(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.)

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