Caribana Doing Well

The SARS impact on popular event fallout still unclear

Despite an encouraging number of participants so far, the real test for Caribana organizers will be in the final days of the festival, event spokesperson says.
Caribana public relations consultant Steven Weir says only time will tell whether S.A.R.S will have any kind of impact on the celebration.
"Caribana is doing well in terms of the events," he says. "The turnouts are higher than anticipated but we're not going to know for sure until the parade on Saturday."
Weir states that although there is a potential "fallout" of visitors traveling to the city due to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or S.A.R.S, local attendance has been promising.
In fact, events such as the Children's Parade have drawn in more people than in previous years.
Weir says in the past, organizers felt fortunate if 1,000 people participated on opening day, but this year roughly 15,000 took part in the launch.
"For people in Toronto this is turning out to be a great event," Weir says. "People here are being very supportive."
The provincial government invested $556,000 in an attempt to help curb the impact of S.A.R.S on the festival.
Of that amount, $200,000 was dedicated exclusively to the marketing and promotion of the event.
"The Ontario government for instance has been extremely generous to us financially," he says. "Of course we could always use more but what we've received has helped a lot."
Weir says this year organizers mounted an aggressive campaign to help publicize the festival.
Up until last week, various members of the promotions committee traveled to both the United States and the Caribbean to encourage prospective visitors.
Weir says, members set up press conferences and radio links to inform respective publics about S.A.R.S and travel to Toronto.
"Basically we told them that it is safe to travel to our city and not to worry about [S.A.R.S]," he says. "Overall we're optimistic about it and hope people will come."
In addition, Weir says he hopes other events like the Rolling Stones concert will have a spill over effect, causing people to stay in Toronto for a few more days.
To date, Caribana is North America's largest cultural festival and one of the biggest Caribbean celebrations in the world.
Caribana is a major tourist attraction for the city, drawing in one million visitors annually and generating roughly $300 million into the local economy.

Publication Date: 2003-08-03
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3009