What kinds of things did you see, hear, smell, taste and feel at the festival(s)?
I saw more black people there than I’d seen anywhere else in Vancouver. I didn’t eat anything while I was there since I was still trying to do that ridiculous detox/cleanse. I don’t remember seeing that much food at the festival, though I know there must have been some. I mostly remember stands selling various kinds of drinks. There were also lots of people there either wearing or selling beautiful clothing/cloth. Unfortunately, there were some white people there with shitlocks on their heads but thankfully there wasn’t an abundance of them wearing kente cloth or anything like that. What was your favourite/the most memorable thing at the festival(s)? I think my favourite thing was taking in the glimpses of various aspects of the different cultures found in the Caribbean. I’ve never been to any of the countries there before, and being an American, didn’t learn anything about them in school. It was great to see some of the differents ways in which blackness exists outside of the context of the US. What did the festival look like? I remember the festival being pretty colorful. Lots of beautiful cloth, as I stated before, and there were quite a few flags from various countries. Jamaica seemed to have the largest presence there. The best part though was all of the happy black faces I saw. There were folks there of all ages and I spotted some fellow black queer and trans people that I hadn’t seen around before. It was fantastic to see that there are more of us here than it can sometimes appear to be. What was your experience of the festival’s location? How did the location of the festival affect your experience? The festival was surprisingly small. I’m not sure what I was expecting before I got there, but for it to be a much larger event was definitely part of it. I guess having to travel to North Vancouver gave me the impression that the event needed a bunch of space and that’s why it was being held there. I wish the festival had been closer, but that’s pretty much it. What did you do at the festival? I just walked around with my friends. We didn’t spend the day there and I didn’t see very many performances. While waiting in line, I got to hear a group singing happy birthday to Canada. I thought that was very odd given the context of the active erasure and mistreatment of black folks in this country. It was strange to hear a celebration of colonialism at an event that’s supposed to be celebrating the Caribbean. How could the festival be improved? It would have been nice if there were less white people at the event. There was a white chiropractor there which was weird and out of place. He spoke to my friend in a condescending manner and his assistants didn’t treat my other friend very well. This man had nothing to do with the Caribbean or blackness, and thus had no reason to have a booth at the event. I don’t remember if there were any other white vendors at the festival, but if there were it would be nice to have them removed as well. There’s no reason to have white people selling things at a Caribbean festival. Money made there should go to Caribbean people of color, not white folks. Original interview done by Wendy and Amanda. Featuring Olivier, who shares experiences as a festival-goer at the Caribbean Days Festival: North Vancouver. Interviewer: Wendy Filming, editing, subtitles: Amanda Source: Link to online PDF here
Source: Caribbean Days Festival website
Deadlines for vendor applications:
Food and Concession - July 4, 2017 Retail Vendors: Arts, Crafts, Clothing and more - July 7, 2017 Posted by the Trinidad & Tobago Cultural Society of BC official YouTube channel, which organizes the Caribbean Days Festival.
YouTube video description: "Kenrick Headley performs the Trinidad & Tobago national anthem at the 50th Anniversary of Independence Gala celebration in British Columbia, Canada." |
Trinidad & Tobago Cultural Society of BCNorth Vancouver Archives |