It's one of North America's biggest festivals - drawing 1.3 million participants last year - and without volunteers, Caribana is not possible, the festival's chairman says.
Caribana chairman Joe Halstead says up to 600 volunteers will be needed in all aspects of the 2009 Scotiabank Caribana Festival.
"Without volunteers we couldn't do what we do," he says.
"We couldn't pay to have people do those duties - they are absolutely critical to the successful execution of the event."
He says every function and event requires people to help in administration, setup, information, directing traffic and clean up, among other tasks.
The organization already has hundreds of volunteers since many come back year after year to help out.
"A lot of people come after work. Whatever their time commitment is, we'll work for a plan with them. In every event volunteers are needed," Halstead says.
Volunteer coordinator Judith Thompson says last year's parade alone required 200 volunteers.
"We find people of all different nationalities volunteering," she says.
Last year, which was the first time volunteers applications were made available online, a group of seven teenagers came from South Korea to volunteer and to learn about the culture and how the festival is run, Thompson says.
"A lot of young people are also showing interest," Thompson says after meeting with a group coordinating this year's Junior Carnival on July 18.
She says people volunteer for different reasons but overall it's a great environment where people look forward to meeting others.
Volunteers need to be over the age of 16 and applications are available on the 2009 Scotiabank Caribana website.
