Organizers of Toronto's popular Caribana festival plan to unveil a new name for the event next week after an Ontario Superior Court ruling.
The court ruled late last week that the mid-summer festival can no longer operate under the Caribana name because the title is trademarked by a group that founded the event but no longer runs it.
Chris Alexander, the chief administrative officer of the Festival Management Committee, which runs the event, told CP24 that the new name will be unveiled May 25.
Alexander said the festival will continue as scheduled and events won't be affected by the name change.
He knows people will likely continue to refer to the event as Caribana, regardless of the new title.
"It's like the Rogers Centre. They still call it SkyDome," Alexander said Tuesday.
The Festival Management Committee took control of the 44-year-old festival five years ago after some infighting between competing owners.
The FMC lost the Caribana name last week because the court ruled the trademark is owned by the Caribana Arts Group, the successor of the Caribbean Cultural Committee, the event's founding group.
This year's festival runs July 14 to Aug. 1, with a parade scheduled for July 30. It is expected to attract one million visitors and pump about $500 million into Toronto's economy.
The festival is receiving $500,000 in funding from the city this year.
CP24 is a media sponsor of the event.
With a report from CP24's George Lagogiannis
