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Black History Month’s Spirits & Spice Marche Brookfield Toronto

BLACK HISTORY MONTH’S CULINARY EVENT

The Caribbean Scholarship Foundation hosts a week
of Caribbean delicacies and delights during Black History Month
At Marché Brookfield Place
Featuring: Celebrity Chef La-toya Fagon

January 25, 2015. Toronto ON – Black History Month’s Culinary Event — Spirits & Spice — takes place February 2 – February 8 at the Marché Toronto, Brookfield Place in downtown Toronto. This is a fund raising food festival for the Caribbean Scholarship Foundation and features the exotic cuisine of Caribbean Canadian chef La-toya Fagon.

This Black History Month festival is exclusive to Marché Toronto. The restaurant and the Caribbean Canadian community invites the city to enjoy the warm aromas, pulsating rhythms and spicy tastes and drinks of the islands.

During Spirits & Spice, Marché will feature a selection of Caribbean dishes featuring Grace Kennedy (GK) products created by Chef La-toya Fagon alongside its usual menu items. The food is cooked right before patrons’ eyes with seasonal products from the Caribbean. The GK Grilling station featuring Grace Jerk, Rubs and Sauces is a must try for all steak and meat lovers. As well guests will find Caribbean inspired beverages and smoothies at the juice station, while, the in-restaurant bar will feature English Harbour Rum (Antigua), Carib Beer (Trinidad and Tobago) and the unique Relax Riesling and Funf 5 Riesling wine that will be paired with the island dishes. Caribbean desserts and even coffee with a Caribbean twist will be available for guest to enjoy.

Spirits & Spice week kicks off on Monday, February 2nd and ends on Sunday, February 8th.

The Caribbean Scholarship Foundation (CSF) Spirits and Spice event is an annual fundraiser for the Foundation, which in December 2014 gave out $10,000 in scholarships to deserving students from the Caribbean Diaspora in Canada. Kyler Philip, Jasmine Francis, Justice Betty and Nathalee Ewers were each awarded $2,500 as part of the “Feature Leaders” Scholarship. The Future Leaders initiative is a partnership between CSF and Western Union and includes an innovative mentorship program designed to give students an added advantage in their academic pursuit.

CSF is also supporting PACT as part of our 2015 community initiative. The Toronto Area based charity is dedicated to working with, supporting and empowering at-risk youth, as well as youth already in conflict with the law. Recently they have embarked on the empowerment of women in diversity communities. David Lockett is a hands-on volunteer, Co-Founder and President of the PACT Urban Peace Program, and a proud supporter of Chef Fagon a young Black woman who is making her mark as world class Chef.

Chef Fagon has been supporting PACT for the last 9 years by donating her time to teaching culinary courses. Recently with the launch of the Jean Augustine Empowerment Center, PACT cooking courses has grown with Chef Fagon teaching young women different forms of empowerment, budgeting, and nutrition.

Western Union will present our Exclusive Media day which will be held on February 4 at Marche from 11:00am – 1:30pm exclusively for members of the media. Chef Fagon will do live cooking demos and attendees can taste a variety of delicacies from around the Caribbean, while sampling the region’s finest spirits beer and also some great wines. Members from CSF and PACT will be on hand to provide information about the programs and scholarship opportunities they provide.

There will be plenty of excitement on Media day and all week long with live music and giveaways. Over 30,000 patrons are expected to take part in the week long festivities, many of which will be delighted for a taste of the tropics in the heart of winter.

Black History Month’s Spirits & Spice is holding a grand finale soiree for Sophisticated Palates on February 6 at the Marche Brookfield Place 5:30pm -9:30pm. Ticket holders will experience unlimited food tastings prepared by Chef Fagon. Tickets are $35.00 Advance $45.00 at the Door

CaribbeanTales Film Festival

The 9^thannual CaribbeanTales International Film Festival (CTFF), returns to Toronto beginningSeptember 3 – 13 with special community screenings on July 26 and August 30th. The festival showcases Caribbean films from 15 selected countries around the region with public, community and online screenings. This includes 10-feature length and 20 short films in competition for the CTFF Audience Prize, which will be announced on closing night – September 13. It will include an intensive four-day Market Incubator program as well as various networking sessions.

“As we continually grow in capacity and impact, the Canadian arm of CaribbeanTales is proud to present our flagship event for the ninth consecutive year” says founder and filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon. Presently, she is directing her attention working internationally with CTFF and its companies to educate, produce, distribute, markets and exhibits Caribbean-themed films and events for audiences everywhere.

This year’s event welcomes Malinda Francis as the new CTFF director. One of her main goals is to build community partnerships to bring access of Caribbean film throughout Toronto. The festival launches this summer with two special community screenings on July 26 and August 30. “This summer we have formed a new relationship with Scotiabank Toronto Kiddie Carnival with carnival-themed films and we continue to work with West Side Arts Hub in the North End of the city,” said Francis.

This year’s festival aims to embody Caribbean culture through the lens of filmmakers. CTFF Programming Committee member, filmmaker and Trinidad & Tobago native, Christopher Pinheiro, describes Caribbean film as “channeling our inner story-tellers into film, video and new media to re-vision old and new tales of the Caribbean for worldwide audiences.”

The fest kicks off with a delicious Caribbean reception on Tuesday September 3, in association with theConsulate General of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago in Toronto at the Royal Cinema, 608 College Street. The evening will include the World Premiere of The Glamour Boyz Again! Sparrow (Geoffrey Dunn, Trinidad and Tobago, 2014, English, PG). The feature-length documentary reveals a remarkable acoustic performance by two of Calypso’s most venerated figures, the Mighty Sparrow and Lord Superior, which was filmed during the production of Calypso Dreams in 2002 on the rooftop of the Hilton Hotel overlooking Port of Spain. The film will include reminiscences by both Sparrow and Superior, whose friendship dates back more than 55 years, to the mid-1950s. Sparrow’s execution at the Hilton is arguably his best-rendered acoustic performance ever recorded. The session will be intercut with previously recorded interviews of Sparrow and Superior at separate venues.

From September 4 – 7, the festival hosts the Market Incubator, which gives selected filmmakers an opportunity to hone their creative and business skills, through workshops and one‐on‐one mentoring by world-class specialists. It will culminate in a pitching session in front of international funders and buyers at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. The fest also organizes a number of intimate events at the University of Toronto with many opportunities to network informally with international industry players.

Festival screenings run from September 8, 10, 12 & 13 at The Royal Cinema, 608 College Street. The films will screen Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., and Saturday at 3:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., and 9:30 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.caribbeantales-events.com. Tickets also may be purchased one hour before each screening at The Royal Cinema, 608 College Street. Please check with the schedule before purchasing.

Opening Night Reception and Film: $25 Early Bird till August 15^th $45 at the door while tickets are available
Regular Programs: $10
Festival Pass (10 Screenings): $80

COMMUNITY SCREENINGS:
The free screenings confirmed to date are:

SATURDAY JULY 26
Carnivalesque – CTFF Partnership with Scotiabank Toronto Kiddie Carnival – Family Afternoon Community Screening
1 p.m. – 4 p.m., Malvern Public Library – 30 Sewells Road
NOTE: Please check www.caribbeantales-events.com for any updated information.

2011 BIG On Bloor Fest. July 23/24, Dufferin – Landowne

Big on Bloor July 23-24 2011

BIG On Bloor Fest. July 23/24, Dufferin – Landowne

Bloordale, from Dufferin to Lansdowne celebrates business, community, arts and culture with a unique community and city-building festival featuring hundreds of events, activities and exhibitions. Three stages will fill with performers, musicians, singers, dancers, theatre, and karate. More than 300 participants feature table exhibitions that line the street and present their projects, products, consumer goods, information or events. Community awards are presented to honour exceptional citizens and there are interactive games

craft tables and attractions for families and children. BAAF: Bloor Alternative Art Fair brings art institutions, collectives, galleries and artists to our street. Crafts, story-telling, face painting, green and social information, dog shows and much more will take place. Strolling buskers and parades weave through the crowds. Our famously diverse restaurants – East African, South Asian, Somali, Vietnamese, Caribbean, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese, Mexican, Italian and Canadian host food, music and dance, some with outdoor extended licensed patios. The Responding Festival culminates its month-long activities of art, architecture, poetry and performance at the Kent school-grounds.

The Responding Festival

Kent School playground directly edges Bloor Street but is separated by a 12 foot high chain-link barrier fence. This summer we open the playground area of the school and offer it as a Bloor Street public space. We will transform the empty space into a public art environment, a collision of art and architecture, performance, poetry, landscape, discussions and playgrounds made by artists and architects, cultural collectives and community participants. The intention is to make a non-stop swirl of activity, a site for evolving experimental forms and new ways of creating in a shared place that responds to the city, the community, each other and being here now.

You can download the Big on Bloor guide here!