For the first time in its history, the Belleville Caribbean Festival took place over three days instead of two.
Festivities began at West Zwick’s Park on Friday then moved to downtown Belleville on Saturday and Sunday.
Despite weather putting a damper on festivities over the weekend, city councillor and co-chair of the Belleville Caribbean Festival Sean Kelly says it was an overall successful event.
“Mother Nature tossed us a few curveballs, but all in all, it was a very successful and nice celebration with music, food, cultural, education and the fun factor,” Kelly tells Quinte News.
“Friday night was so well attended with the all white party at the Lions Pavilion. We had close to 1000 in the park and Saturday was tough to get counts as far as attendance. It was stretched out a bit more this year from one end of downtown to across City Hall, but the numbers were good despite the weather.”
Speaking with Quinte News over the weekend, executive director of the Belleville Downtown District BIA, Danielle Hanoman, hinted that there were already plans looking to expand the King and Queen Parade by adding more floats.
Kelly says the Caribbean Festival has the potential to continue to grow and reach other communities.
“I think it has an opportunity to be one of the premier festivals in the province,” Kelly said.
“We have the success of Diwali with our international friends and students in Loyalist College. Yeah, there’s something to build on with our cultural festivities.”
Kelly mentioned that people from other communities had reached out to inquire about partnering with the festival.
There were 17 food vendors and 32 market vendors spread out across the event downtown.
