Dancers who have spent months working on elaborate and blindingly-bright costumes get their chance to show off Saturday, at one of the city’s most colourful annual events, as the Carifiesta blares and dances its way down St. Catherine St. from noon.
The 39th annual family-friendly Carifiesta is famously gaudy tribute to the tropics, laden with throbbing beats, bright-coloured gold lame winged costumes and plenty of exposed skin.
The weather is expected to fully cooperate, as forecasters are promising a perfect 26 degrees with plenty of sun.
The annual parade is a salute to traditional Caribbean fetes, featuring floats and trucks representing local ties to Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, the Dominican Republic and plenty of other countries to the south.
The parade has had its ups and downs over the years, suffering cancellation due to a funding dispute in 2010 but many say that it has found a better route now that it’s on the more narrow and intimate St. Catherine, from the cavernous Rene Levesque Blvd.
The show starts at noon at Fort and ends when all participants find their way to Phillips Square.
Reginald Dorelas, who has helped with a Haitian float this year said that no effort was spared in organizing costumes, DJs and dancers. "It took a big effort to get this together. We decided to go big," he said in an interview.
