I visited Toronto for Caribana, which is the city’s annual Caribbean carnival, or celebrating Caribbean culture. People converge on Toronto from all over the US and Canada to dutty whine and two step (Me!) their way through a weekend filled with good food, fire-ass parties and fine ass men [←yes!].

Ok so before I talk about the turn up, let me talk a little about the city, because independent of Caribana, Toronto is dope!

After living in Silicon Valley for two years, I am beginning to hear the phrase “diversity and inclusion” more frequently than “technology and innovation”, which has made me hyperaware of the races of the people around me in a way that I have never been in my life. From the time we arrived in Toronto that spidey sense was deactivated. Take a stroll down any street in Toronto and you will notice there are a slew of folks whose races are unidentifiable.

To me there is no better gauge of a diverse and inclusive society than the number of racially ambiguous people—and in Toronto there are a lot! It was refreshing and beautiful to see so many mixed race families throughout the city. And much like its U.S. neighbor to the south, New York City, Toronto seems to be a city of immigrants. The difference I found however is that it seems like the people that come from other countries can simple insert themselves into the culture, rather than seeking out communities of their native cultures. I mean, I’m no sociologist so I can’t say these are facts, but I can say that all of our Uber drivers were immigrants not from the Caribbean (one was from Poland, ok!) and all of them knew and had been to Caribana at least once, and our waiter/bartender at the airport was Kenyan and Filipino—WHERE THEY DO THAT AT?!

I expect most Caribbean festivals are Afrocentric—at best you may happen upon a white woman or two. In Toronto though, it seems like everyone is for everyone.  I was pleasantly surprised to see not only an abundance of white women (some even in fete costumes) but also Asian, Indians, Africans and…gasp, white men of all ages.

Toronto gets another point for the kindness of the people. They are just nice and peaceful and pleasant. These folks actually apologize sincerely when they bump into you in a crowd. And to the point of bumping into you, they actually walk with their heads up and try to avoid walking into you in the first place. You know, rather than walking with their heads down staring at their phones of just looking through you rather than at you, and expecting you to move out of their way. They look out for each other and seem to be present. Toronto is just a peaceful place where people aren’t just coexisting or tolerating each other. They actually seem to have a clear understanding of community and celebrate each individual’s uniqueness.

Another great thing about visiting Canada as an American is that your coin goes a little further. If yall didn’t know, you should know that I always keep my eyes on my pennies. At the time of our visit (August 2017) Canadian currency was .80 on the dollar, meaning 1 USD = 1.26 CAD. In other words, I withdrew 200 CAD from an ATM and only $159 USD was deducted from my bank account. SCORE! Keep in mind that taxes are higher in Canada though. Sales tax is 13% and liquor is subject to a high excise tax which means a greater markup, thus it can be more expensive than in the US. Quick Tip: Pregame before you go out. They may short you a little bit on shots at some clubs and your Crown and cranberry may be extra dark…

IMPORTANT Side Note:  Canadian currency below 5 CAD is in coins. They have a dollar coin and a two dollar coin. A plaguing question I had was: How do you tip the strippers?? Only because there was a strip club around the corner from our house, ok! Do they have a change purse wrapped around their thighs, a collection plate? What? We were told you buy dances as a package. I have to investigate that on the next visit and report back. Stay tuned!

Toronto is also very safe. It was actually ranked the 8th safest city in the world in 2015 by The Economist and the #1 safest city in North America. I mean they have bicycle cops downtown for goodness sake! I can’t think of a better indicator of low anxiety than that. There are quite a few panhandles downtown however but they didn’t pose a threat in my opinion.

Alright, so now Caribana—

What we did: Caribana is basically one huge weekend long party. We arrived on Thursday and literally partied until Monday (#cantstopwontstop). We attended six events in total, including the grand parade on Saturday, and I can honestly say I personally didn’t experience any low points, I enjoyed everything we did. All the parties were lit, crunk, bomb, awesome—whatever adjective soothes your soul. Crunk is my personal favorite. Most DJs played a mix of current Hip Hop with short mixes of Soca and Reggae.

We bought all of our party tickets in advance (which I recommend) from the official Caribana website: https://www.caribanatoronto.com/. We purchased a weekend package that included 4 parties, and the Sunday Blocko package that included a day party and the after party. The total was $150 USD after service fees. I highly recommend Sunday Blocko. The party was from 1-7 PM at a huge club called Rebel. We got there HELLA late around 6:15 and it was still lit and ran past 7 PM.

If I go to Caribana again I’d make the pool parties a priority. There were two throw by Lebron James and the Weeknd that I wish we would have attended.

Single ladaays! You need to do yourselves a favor and make Caribana a girl’s trip. There were so many beautiful black men. If you have ever asked yourself, “Where are all the fine men?” Girl, they in Toronto!

Note:  The weekend is capped off with Drake’s OVO fest, which is huge concert. It was on Monday and we did not go. We had a lot of trouble finding tickets for the concert, so if you do want to go, make sure your Ticketmaster alerts are turned on and you follow the Caribana Facebook page.

Where we stayed:  We stayed in an Airbnb in downtown Toronto: link here. It was conveniently located within walking distance of the mall, restaurants, pharmacies, the grocery store, Stabucks, the ATM and the train station. This was my first time staying in an Airbnb and it was a great experience—just like being at home. It was much more economical and comfortable than a hotel would have been for a large group. The total for four nights was $1357, or $228 per person.

Special Tip: You need to book your accommodations well in advance to get the best options and prices. We booked our Airbnb in April and even at that time, which was four months prior to the festival, it was slim pickings.

How we got around:  As of August 2017 Toronto did not offer Lyft so it was Uber everywhere. To get from the airport we rode the UP train, which was one of the nicest trains I have ever been on. It was 12 CAD or approximately $9 USD.

What we ate:  K, so our focus was more on turning up than tourism so we really didn’t explore the restaurant scene. From what I hear though Toronto has excellent culinary diversity, which is to be expected. The food we did have was good but we mostly ate on the go. We did have brunch on Sunday at a restaurant called School in Liberty Village. The atmosphere was really cool and laid back and the chicken and waffles and mimosas were bomb. I highly recommend it, just be ready to wait for a table because it’s very popular.

Synopsis: You must go to Toronto and you should go for Caribana. If you are looking for a clean, safe, culturally rich, cost effective spring or summer getaway (cuz ain’t nobody got time to freeze to death), visit Toronto. I think it is a great destination for any traveler whether you are with a group, your family or traveling solo.

-Khristal Talyse