A non-profit organization, Nia Centre for the Arts is a Toronto-based facility focused on the development of young people through culturally relevant arts experiences. Providing programming and services to engage young people artistically, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually, Nia Centre strives to support the development of healthy identities and positive life choices, while promoting arts from an African-Diasporic perspective in a way that engages inter-generational artists and the general population.
Celebrating 50 years in Toronto, the Caribbean Carnival has gone through a few structural changes and adjustments to management, funding, and operation over the years. A press conference, held today re-energized the city with plans to improve the parade logistics and increase the overall enjoyment for participants and visitors.
The festival's theme for this year, "Celebrating Our Heritage: From Then to Now," plans to bring changes to the parade like the removal of barrier fences, a new parade route, and what is described as "more floats, music, celebrities, and fun than ever before."
"Carnival captures Toronto's vibrant multiculturalism, and the entire Peeks Social team is proud to support the 50th anniversary edition of the festival," said Peeks Social Ltd. founder, Mark Itwaru. "Especially on the occasion of Canad's sesquicentennial, it's going to be a celebration like no other and put a BIG spotlight on our wonderful city and all it has to offer."
The Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival will have a dedicated channel on the Peeks network and users can download the free Peeks app to view a live stream of the event; Kya Publishing has also now registered on the platform, and will continue to use their social media energy towards profiling various cultural (and literary) events in the city.
The Carnival runs from July 7 to August 7 with a variety of events taking place, including:
July 7 & 8 - Carnival Night Market
July 9 - Opening Church Service
July 11 - Official Launch
July 15 - Carnival Village
July 16 - Carnival King & Queen Showcase
July 22 - Junior Carnival Parade & Family Day
July 22 - Toronto Carnival Run
July 23 - Calypso Show
July 28 - Carnival Ball
August 1 - Lighting of the CN Tower
August 3 - King & Queen Showcase
August 4 - Pan Alive
August 5 - Grand Parade
Kya Publishing's 4th annual Toronto Urban Book Expo is scheduled to take place on Carnival Sunday, August 6 at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, in association with Nia Centre programming to be announced on June 12, 2017.
"The economic trends in Canada--our low dollar and our high standard of living--will bring in an influx of American, Caribbean, and South American visitors to Toronto who have shared history of and appreciation for the Carnival. We look forward to sharing our expanded and enhanced celebration with the world," said Denise Herrera-Jackson, CEO of the Peeks Toronto Caribbean Carnival.
What is Peeks?
Founder Mark Itwaru--an entrepreneur who immigrant to Toronto from Guyana in 1969, with family roots in the original festival Board of Directors--has built several tech companies. Peeks Social Ltd. is a new live streaming app where people can interact and transact in real time by sending cash tips as appreciation for content and/or selling goods and services to their live viewers. The infrastructure allows users to receive financial tips and sell items, with the option to raise money from crowd-funding campaigns.