The Toronto Caribbean Carnival is back.

This Carnival will highlight the spectacular Caribbean culture with music, food and a Grande Parade. This annual event is held just steps from the Exhibition GO Station and taking transit is the best way to get to and from the festival.

This year is the 56^th anniversary of this tradition, which is North America’s largest celebration of its kind, with more than one million participants expected to attend.  

To celebrate, Metrolinx will unveil a brand-new wrapped double decker GO Bus design which showcases the festival’s colourful tradition and culture.

This year’s theme highlights diversity and Toronto’s Carnival is one of the most diverse community events, represented with Caribbean nations and nations across South America.  

Getting people to Carnival 

On Saturday Aug. 5, GO Transit is running special weekend GO Train service on the Stouffville and Milton GO Lines. There will also be extra express GO Train service on the Lakeshore West Line. 

Head to the GO Transit website for specific trip times.

For decades, GO Transit has helped thousands of carnival-goers get to the Grande Parade and we are making it easier to get there with $10 weekend day passes and $15 weekend passes.   

Customers can plan their journey to Exhibition GO, just steps away from the main event by visiting: gotransit.com.   

Once at the carnival, kids of all ages can check out GO Transit’s Carnival tent where they can meet GO Bear, try on some costumes, and take pictures in front of the newly wrapped GO Bus. 

Staff will also be giving out limited-edition PRESTO card decals with this year’s Carnival theme design and flags of the different islands in the Caribbean.

Other giveaways include water bottles, fans, mini-sized GO Trains, and GO Bus cut-outs inspired by the design of the life-sized wrapped GO bus. 

The Toronto Caribbean Carnival runs from Aug. 3-7, 2023, with the main event, the Grande Parade taking place on Aug. 5, 2023.