Weekly Caribbean Dispatch

Opening Note

Brooklyn closed out Carnival Week with the West Indian Day Parade on Eastern Parkway, Sept. 7, drawing an estimated two to three million people. J’Ouvert opened before dawn, then the parade ran from Crown Heights toward Grand Army Plaza, powered by steel pan, soca, and colors from every corner of the Caribbean. NYPD ran tighter security and an earlier cutoff this year, a response to violence that has shadowed recent editions. The parade has survived worse than a curfew adjustment. It has run since the 1930s, through hurricanes, recessions, and a pandemic shutdown, and it remains the single biggest day the diaspora gets in North America.

The Pulse

West Indian Day Parade capped Carnival Week, Sept. 7 – Brooklyn Museum programming (Blocko Mania, Soca Fest, the New York Panorama steel pan competition) built through the week toward the main parade. (nyc.gov, fox5ny.com)
Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival ran from Sept. 1, Sept. 3 to 5 – A free concert at Kura Hulanda opened into the main festival, with Sean Paul, The Jacksons, and Stephen Marley on the bill.
Guyana Folk Festival closed its Diamond Jubilee season – A Kwe Kwe night and awards gala on Sept. 2, then the Folk Festival Family Fun Day on Sept. 6, closing out programming tied to Guyana’s 60th independence. (caribbeanlife.com)
“Project a Black Planet” closed at the Barbican, London, Sept. 6 – The show pulled work from Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, North America, and Western Europe into one survey of Pan-Africanism’s influence on visual art.

Market & Opportunities

ARRIVAL Gallery Micro Grant. Rolling, no fixed deadline. Submit one original artwork; a winner is picked once a round hits 1,000 valid submissions.
Pollock-Krasner Foundation grants. Rolling. Support for painters, sculptors, and artists working on paper, based on financial need and exhibition history, up to $50,000.
CCF’s 4th Call for Proposals. Reported open, but the live status page loads dynamically and cannot be verified automatically. Worth a direct check before it runs.

Release Radar

Shenseea and Daddy Yankee’s “Echo” and Shaggy’s “Love Always Wins” with Cimafunk and Zema both dropped on the official FIFA World Cup 2026 album in early September. St. Lucian soca star Ricky T released “Bend It” with Jamaican dancehall veteran Beenie Man the same week.

Creator Spotlight: Ricky T

What are you telling now? His new single “Bend It” pairs him with Beenie Man, putting St. Lucia’s most decorated soca artist (18-plus competition titles) alongside one of Jamaica’s longest-standing dancehall voices. Ricky T has described the pairing as letting two Caribbean sounds meet without either one losing what makes it distinct.

Where can we follow / support you? Facebook and X at @rickytizle, streaming on Spotify.

On the Circuit

September

CaribbeanTales International Film Festival, “Screen Share” — Sept. 8 to 13, Toronto
Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival — Sept. 9 to 13, Brooklyn
Q31 Film Festival’s Caribbean and Latinx Film Festival — Sept. 12, Wyandanch, NY
Caribbean Music Awards — Sept. 18 to 20, NAPA, Port of Spain
Brooklyn Book Festival — Sept. 20 to 26, Brooklyn
Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival, 20th anniversary — Sept. 23 to 27
The Armory Show, new Caribbean Focus programming — Sept. 24 to 27, Javits Center, New York

October and beyond

Barbados Independent Film Festival — Oct. 14 to 18
COCO Dance Festival — Oct. 23 to 25, Trinidad
Havana Ballet Festival — Oct. 28 to Nov 6, Cuba

Last Look

Every one of these events, from a parade running since the 1930s to a festival marking its 21st edition, is proof that the culture keeps showing up for itself.