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It's Carnival Friday evening in Toronto, the weather is great, and we are headed to a Roof Top party! What could be better??!!! Well let me give you some insight ... A day fete with top class DJ's, food from one of the best Caribbean Restaurants in Canada, great location and ... and .... and the finest Caribbean women. Ohhhh let's not forget ... cotton candy and snowcone!! Flare kicked off my weekend of events for Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2012. And if you missed this one, then shame on you!

CROWD:
There is no doubt that the Caribana festivities brings scores of people into Canada every year. And 9 out of 10 times when anyone travels, you look for your best top, pants, dress, shoe, bracelet, watch, ring.... whatever it is, to bring with you. In this fete, people went all out. One can tell the effort everyone put in just from what we saw in the long line outside the club. Needless to say, this event had trendy fashion written all over it. A goodlooking crowd all carrying beautiful smiles, spared no bit of sparkle when preparing for Flare.

VENUE:
Not a bad location one bit. The Guverment is a building in downtown Toronto that plays home to several dance clubs. The Skybar is just one of the clubs and probably was the best location for Flare. A completely open roof top that posed a good decor, an extended bar and elevated DJ booth! Obviously the temperature was good as it was in the open, with a cool breeze flowing through from the nearby ocean front. The place was clean and very accommodating.

VIBE:
The general consensus was that the vibes was good. A couple of DJ's struggled a bit and played too much Rap and Reggae during carnival time, but from the moment Barrie Hype (Miami), DJ Spice (NY) and  Jester (Toronto) took a hold of the tables and the mic, there was no more worries. The 'Flare' picked up around 5pm and the flame never ended. 

FOOD & DRINK:
It was a semi-inclusive: free food but buy your drinks. The drinks system was very straight forward with an open cash bar. As for food ... WOW. We had food served from (and please remember this name when you go to Toronto) Tasty's Caribbean Restaurant. Amazing. Even currant rolls and sweat-bread delighted the partygoers (just look at the long line for food). Fried fish, pholourie, fruit-kababs, spanish rice ... everything was sooooo tasty!! Great job Tasty's! And just to mention again, there was even a cotton candy and snowcone vendor at the party offering free goodies. Great touch to an already 'thumbs up' event!

SERVICE:
From entrance to exit, we were pleased with the service. The staff, especially at the bar and the food lines were very courteous and responsive. The promoters were organized and well prepared to serve their patrons.

For a cool $30 dollars, no one could really complain. With food included, "Tasty's" food not to mention, this was good value.

Flare is now a must attend event for Caribana Friday. Though we were a bit disappointed by the Hip Hop playing dj, we commend Barrie Hype, Jester and Spice for saving the day. Much respect to Dr. Jay and the 'JET' team for a well organized event and for taking care of the TJJ team. We are definitely looking forward to Flare 2013.

-Joy Juice ... Out And About!

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>> View Caribana 2012 Carnival Coverage