The Caribbean American Carnival Association of Boston is gearing up for its 53rd annual Grand Parade on Saturday, Aug. 29. According to its website, the association “has championed Caribbean culture in Boston — preserving traditions, uplifting artists, and bringing communities together in one electrifying celebration of identity, resilience and joy.”

The afternoon road parade will begin at 1 p.m. starting on Talbot Avenue in Dorchester and will continue onto Blue Hill Avenue by 2 p.m. The parade will then go onto Warren Street in Roxbury at 3:30 p.m., Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at 4:30 p.m., and will arrive at the final stop at Franklin Park at 6 p.m., where there will be an after-party and awards given. The website reports that the parade will feature “5,000+ masqueraders, 12 mas bands, and infinite vibes.”

The Banner spoke with Dacia Shillingford-Compas, the association’s chair for the J’Ouvert Parade, about what community members can expect for this year’s parade.

The J’Ouvert Parade is also happening on Saturday at 4 a.m on Blue Hill Avenue, which will include “pre-dawn paint, powder and pulse. The sacred ritual that opens Carnival — primal, joyful, free.”

Carnival was launched in 1973 by Ben Bonaparte and Kenneth Bonaparte Mitchell. Their website reports that the first grand parade happened in 1985 where over 1,000 masqueraders journeyed to Blue Hill Avenue for the first time.

“For me, growing up in Boston, I started playing [dancing in] a costume and Carnival from the age of two, and never missed a Carnival in my life until COVID-19,” said Shillingford-Compas. “Even when I was pregnant, I was incredible in my costume. Then I had my daughter in January, and in August she was in a costume…a miniature costume,” she said.

“It’s very meaningful to Caribbean people from the Caribbean and now of Boston. It has become a tradition for us to share our culture with our Boston community.”

Shillingford-Compas offered community members advice on how to navigate the big crowd of people at Carnival, such as going with a group of friends.

“First and foremost … I do think that it is a fun and safe event for families to go. … Groups can go. Friends can go,” she said.

“I think if you have a friend who is of West Indian descent makes it even better because then you might even be able to join a band, wear a costume and really engage and indulge, and we love that.”

ON THE WEB

Learn more at cacabboston.org