Durham Carifest 2019, Fun for the entire family!

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

What do you call a day-long event that has something for the entire family? Two words; Durham Carifest!

On Saturday, June 15^th, at Ajax Downs, 50 Alexander’s Crossing, Durham Region began the summer festivities with a day full of family fun. The day featured: DJ’s, marketplace and a grand food area.  It also had:

• Face painting
• Special zoo
• Special appearance by the King of Wakanda
• Reggae performer Razor B
• Calypso legend David Rudder
• Canada’s own all-girls’ reggae band Rayzalution
• Two student performances from Viola Desmond Public School and Bolton C Falby PS.

Visitors were treated to an array of vendors and had the chance to enjoy some delicious treats. There were a variety of activities to enjoy and participate in including testing one’s skills at the three-point basketball contest. It was all sponsored by Durham District School Board and other generous community partners,

Toronto Caribbean Newspaper spoke with Mellissa Harry one of the five people that make up the Carifest team and was responsible for making this event possible. Harry told Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, “There is a lot of work that goes into an event like this; there are a lot of sleepless nights. We have to start planning early looking at what was done and what we can do better. The Carifest team behind this event are very passionate. Durham is defined as a bedroom community so this is all about getting people to live and play in Durham.”

Even though this is the first year for this particular event, they are looking forward to making this an annual thing because there is a need for this kind of entertainment here in Durham. “We have a whole team behind us: the Durham Catholic School Board, Lexicon Energy, Loblaws Wholesale, Enchanted Castle, van Dusen GMC, and of course The Durham Durham District School Board”, Harry told us proudly.

Jim Markovski, Superintendent of Education, Early Years and Poverty Strategy for the Durham Durham District School Board spoke with Toronto Caribbean Newspaper about the board’s involvement in this community event. “We are a committed partner with Durham Carifest, and part of our strategic priorities within the Durham Durham District School is to ensure that we are honoring the multiple cultural voices within our community, and this is addressed through our equity and inclusion strategic plan. Within Durham Carifest, we are specifically honoring and celebrating the Caribbean diaspora and ensuring we recognize their continuous contributions. It is a great way to come together as a whole to celebrate each other.”

Markovski told Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, “Our doors are always open to strengthening our community partnerships, we value the multiple voices in our community, and we always want to connect with other like-minded organizations. We are willing to have a conversation and find out how we can support the success of those organizations because we realize these organizations help to serve our students and our families as well.”

When asked how the Durham School Board manages to get all this done in an active school year? Markovski answered “We have a variety of students from numerous high schools across Durham region that are coming to the event to: volunteer, to perform at the event, and to talk with the community. We value the community voice and we are always open to hearing how we can serve the community better.”

Harry and the Durham Carifest team share this view also; “We want this to be one of those don’t miss events where you kick off the summer, and people look forward to coming to enjoy time around each other. We have a lot going on from dominos to cricket, and we are trying to feature as many Caribbean dishes as we can.”

Both the Durhan School Board and the Durham Carifest Team extended a warm welcome to the public; as Markovski puts it, “We want to make sure we are serving our Caribbean population; these events ultimately celebrate that diversity and capture what they feel are the needs in our community.”