Every summer, Toronto (Canada) blazes with the excitement of calypso, steel pan and elaborate masquerade costumes during the annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana™) Festival.

Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana), celebrating its 39th anniversary in 2006, is the largest Caribbean festival in North America. Presented by the Festival Management Committee, the two-week Festival attracts over a million participants annually, including hundreds of thousands of American tourists.

Among the highlights is the Parade, one of the largest in North America. Thousands of brilliantly costumed masqueraders and dozens of trucks carrying live soca, calypso, steel pan, reggae and salsa artists jam the 1.5 km parade route all day, to the delight of hundreds of thousands of onlookers.

Other keynote events include the King and Queen of the Bands Competition and the two-day Olympic Island Caribbean Arts Festival. Outdoor concerts of Caribbean music, calypso harbour cruise parties and glamourous dances round out the entertainment roster.

Caribana was created in 1967 as a community heritage project for Canada's Centennial year. Based on Trinidad Carnival, the Festival now also includes the music, dance, food and costumes of Jamaica, Guyana, the Bahamas, Brazil and other cultures represented in Toronto - the world's most culturally diverse city.

* Subject to change.