Carassauga brings festival of cultures to Mississauga this weekend

Mississauga will play host to the world this weekend when one of the city’s most popular festivals hits town for its 38th year.

Carassauga Festival of Cultures, Canada’s largest multicultural festival, runs tonight (May 26) through Sunday at various venues across Mississauga, as usual.

The weekend party kicks off with tonight’s (May 26) Opening Ceremony, being held at the Portuguese Cultural Centre of Mississauga (53 Queen St. N.) from 7:30 to 10 p.m. The doors open at 6:30 p.m.

No passports or reservations are needed for Friday’s Opening Ceremony, which is a free event and open to all ages on a first-come, first-served basis.

Activities include the Parade of Nations in which the more than two dozen countries participating in Carassauga will present themselves to guests.

Local musicians and dancing are also part of the Opening Ceremony.

Carassauga, which unofficially kicks off the major festival season in the city, continues on Saturday (noon to midnight) and Sunday (noon to 7 p.m.) with 25 cultural pavilions set up at the following venues:

• Paramount Fine Foods Centre
• Frank McKechnie Community Centre
• Canadian Coptic Centre
• Portuguese Cultural Centre of Mississauga
• Sava Serbian Centre

For those with Carassauga passports, there will be free transportation between the pavilions via MiWay buses and festival shuttle buses.

Carassauga passports cost $15, with children age 12 and under admitted free of charge.

The passport entitles the holder to:

• unlimited entry to all cultural pavilions throughout the weekend
• access to live performances, food vendors and kids’ activities
• free rides on MiWay buses during festival hours
• free rides on Carassauga shuttle buses during festival hours
• free parking at all locations

“Festival patrons have come to love the music, dress and theatrics of artisans over the years and these performers have been one of the must-see attractions at Canada’s largest multicultural festival,” organizers say on the Carassauga 2023 website.

Festival organizers also invite people to check out the Carassauga YouTube channel for all kinds of videos of past festivals.

A 2023 Carassauga trailer video can be viewed below.

Officials also note that Cooking with Carassauga, a popular online component of the festival, returns this year as well.

“Some of the countries that we are featuring in 2023 will demonstrate how to make some of their key favourite cultural cuisines,” festival organizers say online. “If you have participated in our Cooking with Carassauga stream before, then you know how delicious some of these dishes have turned out.”