Behind the bright colours and ornate jewels in Carimas is a message of resiliency and celebration

While the eye-catching costumes are used to celebrate Caribbean cultures, the Montreal Carimas Festival is also a way to convey a message of resiliency.

With brightly coloured feathers, dazzling costume jewels and ornate back pieces, Carimas outfits look fit for a party.

Rayne Hacket and Nitara Bess with Rayne Carinval carefully cut neon strips of fabric and glue them to a wire frame to make a backpiece that, along with shorts and bejewelled bra top, would complete a look. It’s work that’s often done at home in the evening and on weekends.

One outfit, known as mas, can take around 50 hours to complete.

While the eye-catching mas are used to celebrate Caribbean cultures, it’s also a way to convey a message of resiliency. 

“The root of why we have Carnival is still there,” Carimas band organizer Raquel Huggins told CTVNews. “It’s a show of our strength and the struggles that Caribbean nations have had in their time of being enslaved people and their choice of rebellion.”

Carimas (formerly known as Carifiesta) has been running for over a half century in Montreal. The standout event is the parade, a dazzling display of dance, fashion and national pride. The mas are created around a central theme and relate to one of the six bands performing in the parade.

For Rayne Carnival, it’s all about the Garden of Eden and features outfits interpreting paradise, temptation and the fall from grace. The mas are available to buy for those looking to participate in the festivities.

“It’s a time to show off your physique, your colour, your skin tone, the whole body,” says Ron Greenige from TnT One Foundation. “This is me and this is what I represent.”

Greenige’s mas creations centre around some of the countries participating in the event. A red and white number incorporates the flag of Trinidad and Tobago. With dangling green and black beads, another creation is reflective of Jamaica. It’s an opportunity for each nation to bring together elements of their national colours and identity in one event.

“I think Carimas is important so the other cultures in Montreal can actually have an idea of what we are, what we do, what we actually represent,” saif Greenige.

Despite recent issues with funding and bureaucracy that led to some recent cancellations of the festival, Carimas returned with year-by-year funding from Montreal and its rebranded name in 2024. The new moniker comes from a combination of the words “Caribbean” and “masqueraders.”

Huggins said the festival is still hoping to raise $70,000 to ensure, “a great event.”

Even with the body-bearing mas, Carimas is an all-ages event. The Petit Mas, just for children, takes place on June 28. The main Carimas celebration is July 5 with the parade starting at 12 p.m. on the corner of Sherbrooke and McGill College.

“It’s very important to keep these kinds of traditions alive, especially where we have the old and we have the young, and they can interchange (knowledge) in their relationship.”

“We’re welcoming everybody to come and join us for that day,” said Huggins. “Our motto is ‘I am Carimas.’”