Caribana vision comes alive for East York mas band

Caribana vision comes alive for East York mas band. Portraits Band leader Louise Saldenah looks at his costume called Portrait of Long Lost Lovers at his mas camp Monday. Saldenah is a 15 time band of the year winner and will be looking to win again in this years Caribana parade on Saturday. Staff photo/DAN PEARCE

From his mas band base in East York, Saldenah talked about his Portraits themed-band and the work that's gone into producing 2,400 outfits. With this year marking his 30th in the Caribana Festival it might seem a difficult task to come up with a unique theme each year, but Saldenah said he's been able to manage.

"While I'm driving and thinking about Caribana it just hits me," he said of his idea for the main theme.

"Portraits gave me an opportunity to choose from a wide scope."

The theme is broken down into 15 sections, including Portrait of a Fallen Angel, Portrait of a Painter's Pallet and Portrait of Long Lost Lovers, which was one of the first to sell out. All but two of the sections have sold out with sections limited to 150 players, though he did stretch that to 175 for a few very popular selections.

"It will be the biggest band they have ever had," Saldenah said.

Preparation for the Caribana festivities begins during the cold months of the winter. The theme was decided on in November and then Saldenah sat down with the section leaders in January to come up with the ideas for the costumes to represent each section. The prototypes are completed in March and the photo shoot takes place in April in advance of the May launch where 1,500 people lined up to get first pick of the costumes.

It's understandable that Saldenah's creations are so sought after. His club has been named best band 15 times. The past three years it's come third.

"People have known us for producing quality costumes every year and that's the key," he said, adding it's a team effort to create unique, beautiful and quality pieces.

In the lead up to the parade more than 100 people can be found at the warehouse in Eglinton Avenue and Bermondsey Road area every evening sewing on sequins or gluing on feathers. The pieces include arm bands, leg bands, head pieces and sometimes chokers to bring glitz and colour to the entire body. The majority of the mas players are women with 2,100 out of the 2,400 people in Saldenah's band being women.

"They just go out there and have fun," he said.

And they're not just from around here. Saldenah said the band will include 300 people from the United States, as well as people from the Caribbean and England. Last year he had a woman from Saudi Arabia who participated in the band.

It's a lot of work preparing that many costumes and making sure everything is just right, but in the end it's worth it.

"On Caribana day once you see the whole band moving and your true vision has come alive," Saldenah said.

n Caribana festivities are now ongoing in Toronto, but highlights include the Kings and Queens of the Bands competition at Lamport Stadium Thursday, July 29 and the parade itself on Saturday, July 31.

The Kings and Queens event goes from 7 p.m. to midnight and sees the bands in this year's parade competing for top honours and the crown of King or Queen of this year's Caribana festival.

On Saturday, the parade begins at Exhibition Place and then travels along Lake Shore Boulevard. The parade runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information on Caribana, visit www.www.caribanafestival.com