Dominoes on the block, made to order roti, sound systems blaring familiar riddims and soca anthems—all these moments are bold expressions, celebrations and forms of resistance for Caribbean communities across the world.

As Caribana weekend approaches and temperatures rise, these moments feel intensified and even more prominent across the city. This year, Toronto continues to show its deep connection to Caribbean people and their culture as our community gears up for the 56th celebration of Caribana. This time of year brings out the energy and vibrancy in people, making the city feel more like the Islands.

Before and after the parade, parties and celebrations take place across the city to acknowledge the festivities. People from all over visit Toronto to jump & wave, represent their island and show their pride. West Indies massive can be seen rocking their flags and shared colours of green, gold, and red. Trinidad, Guyana, St.Kitts, Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, and so many more pull up representing their islands.

Leading up to the Caribana long weekend, we took the chance to tap into what’s happening in Caribbean communities across Toronto. First, we stopped in Parkdale—a neighborhood in the west end of the city—to visit Ali’s Roti. A Toronto staple for over 40 years, Ali’s serves the most authentic West-Indies food making them a go-to for the west end community when you need that reminder of home or an introduction to Caribbean flavors.

After Ali’s, we followed music from the sound system outside, and linked up with some locals playing dominoes on their stoop, enjoying the Friday evening in style.

We ended our trip at a local event hosted by one of the pioneers of Jamaican Dance, Jermaine Squad, and local dancehall promoter, Lady Hilly. The event, called “Sell Off”, was a dancehall street party staged in a commercial outdoor lot in the GTA. Jermaine Squad are a group of iconic dancers and creators of global dance moves entrenched in mainstream Jamaican culture. Jermaine’s crew is responsible for creating dances like Rock Di baby, Construction, Drive Out,  and Over Di Wall at Jamaica’s iconic weekly Wednesday night street dance called “Passa Passa”. He was a true originator during the early 2005 dancehall wave budding out of Kingston, Jamaica. Early aughts dancehall videos and DVDs document these DIY events closely, shining a light on the originators. We got deep inside the party to capture the eccentricity and excitement of the Jamaican-Canadian dancehall scene and, unsurprisingly, the party lived up to its name.