After 20 years, festival organizers are changing the route of the Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival to make it friendlier for spectators and to collect admission fees.
The parade, formerly known as Caribana, attracts more than a million people every year but organizers said its previous route created too many problems.
"What we had before didn't work because when you left the exhibition place onto the Lakeshore the street got crowded. You couldn't see the pageantry, you couldn't see the bands," said Chris Alexander, CFO of the festival's management committee.
The original route started at Exhibition Place and wove its way along Lake Shore Boulevard West. This year, the parade will begin inside the parking lot on the CNE grounds across from the Direct Energy Centre.
After circling inside the grounds, the parade will move out through the Princes' Gate and march past the judges along Lake Shore Boulevard West.
The gated route inside the CNE will generate more revenue for the festival by allowing organizers to charge a general admission fee of $15 to enter the viewing area.
Alexander said that if organizers can fit 30,000 people in the viewing area it will help organizers cover venue and other organizational costs.
"That's money we would not have had before," he said.
For $50, spectators can also watch the festival from special VIP areas along Lake Shore Boulevard West.
With files from CTV Toronto's Carol Charles.
