Hello,<BR><BR>A group of 4 women from the States will be attending Caribana in August. We have been told that it is one of the best music and cultural festivals in the world. Many of our questions were not answered after viewing the Caribana.com website so we are asking for feedback from Fodors. Any information you would have be very helpful.<BR><BR>Thank you,<BR>Cindy<BR><BR>Where would be the best place to stay? We are considering staying at the Renaissance (Skydome) or Crowne Plaza? <BR><BR>Where do most of the activities occur? Will we need tickets for the events? How expensive are the activities?<BR><BR>How bad are the crowds? A few of us have visited Mardi Gras (in New Orleans) and didn't like being surrounded by drunks and half naked women.....Is this a similar type of atmosphere? <BR> <BR><BR>Do you have any tips on how to make this trip most enjoyable or should we avoid it altogether?

To clarify, while it is a great music and cultural festival, it has an almost exclusive Carribbean / black theme. Reggae meets Calypso meets Salsa, with some other stuff thrown in.<BR><BR>You won't find many half naked women. there are great costumes on the parade people, some pretty skimy, but no "throw beads and I'll embarass myself" kind of stuff.<BR><BR><BR>There's Cariban theme parties all over downtown, and it is very hard to get hotel rooms. The Crown Plaz and the SkyDome are close to each other, and it is a toss-up which to pick.<BR><BR>Caribana is always badly organized, so details remain sketchy, but probably there will be a parade in the Toronto Exhibition Place (imagine a big state fair grounds with permanent exchibition halls) and a jump-up on Toronto Island, eassily accessible by ferry boat, if they manage to organize things properly.<BR><BR>Go to www.Toronto.com every once in a while to see if there's more info, and then make your reservations as soon as possible.<BR><BR>You need tickets to the exhibition grounds. Don't know prices, but they are not bad, especialy for Americans because of the exchange rate.<BR><BR>BAK<BR>

Brian,<BR><BR>Thank you for your response. You provided good insight.<BR><BR>Any additional feedback???

Cindy - probably one of the best properties to stay at might be the Westin Harbour Castle... it is right on the waterfront near the ferry docks that you will need to participate in many of the Centre Island Caribana events. It is also only 3 miles from the parade site on Lakeshore Blvd. near the CNE grounds... <BR><BR> and as Brian mentioned... be prepared to be flexible, the organizers are always changing or cancelling events... the year we went, the parade was changed from University to Lakeshore, and the SkyDome festival of floats was cancelled.

Years ago, when the parade went down University Avenue, I always went to Caribana. It's been a few years since then, but I know the city always seems very lively during that time. Also crowded! I think that the hotels are usually fully booked, so try to book early. Even though Toronto has a very large West Indian population, lots of out of towners visit.