By Dana Levenson From CTV

Published Tuesday, June 18, 2019 4:20PM EDT 
Last Updated Tuesday, June 18, 2019 8:09PM EDT

This year’s Toronto Caribbean Carnival Grand Parade will have a new route through a portion of the downtown core.

The 52nd annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival Festival, held during the months of July and August, is a national celebration of arts and culture. At its center is the Grand Parade, which has been billed as “the largest street performance parade of its kind in North America.”

Speaking at a news conference held Tuesday, the Chief of Public Affairs and Heritage for the festival said that the route for the parade will be changing and will now stretch eight kilometers across Lake Shore Boulevard.

“We are trying to enhance all of our offerings for the festival by extending the parade route, with a longer route,” said Denise Herrera Jacksons.

The parade will start at Exhibition Place, near British Columbia Road, and will continue westbound on Lake Shore Boulevard until Colbourne Lodge near High Park. The procession will then turn back and head back to Exhibition Place.

The entire parade is expected to last up to four hours.

Herrera Jackson urged everyone attending the parade to take public transportation.

“We saw yesterday how important it is to have a good partnership with TTC and GO transit,” said Herrera Jackson.

The Grande Parade is scheduled for Aug. 3.

For more on this story go to:https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-caribbean-carnival-grand-parade-gets-a-new-route-1.4471973