Unity is driving force of Caribbean festival

Police make a strong showing; 25 are arrested

Boston's annual Caribbean American Carnival parade was launched yesterday with a blur of colors, tassels, face paint, and floats.

Shonda Shaw, 33, was a shiny figure in that blur, dressed in a jumble of white and silver. Feathers sprang from her head, and light reflected off silver triangle patterns hugging her waist. A silver plume was mounted on her back.

"It's not that heavy," she said.

Her group, Dynasty Productions, has been working on costumes and their show, titled "Glow With a Touch of Class," since last year's parade ended.

Organizers expected nearly 700,000 people to attend the 35-year-old festival, which celebrates Boston's West Indian community. Some come from as far as Trinidad and Canada, they said.

"It's growing more and more," said Carl Smith, a spokesman for the board that organizes the festival. "This is culture. This is Caribbean culture. The whole Caribbean, not one island."

The parade through the streets of Roxbury and Dorchester is the centerpiece of the festival, which also honors a king and queen and includes a children's carnival and outdoor party.

How many years has Shaw been marching?

"How many years? Whoa. I've been doing this since I was about 12 or 13," she said. "I tried one year to just stand on the sidelines. It was kind of boring, because I knew what I was missing.

"It's a unity thing, it brings people together," she said.

Music blared from speakers as the Caribbean beats mixed and swirled into a great cacophony.

Jo-Ann Rust was there with her daughter, granddaughter, and family friends.

"I like the costumes. I like the community. I like seeing all the different islands represented," Rust said. She also likes that the parade and festival are held in Dorchester. "You don't have to schlep to downtown Boston to see your own people."

Rust said she doesn't worry much about the violence that has marred the festival. "Violence is everywhere," she said.

About 5 p.m., just as Governor Patrick Deval made an appearance at the festival, a man was stabbed at 323 Seaver St., near the parade route, said Boston police spokesman James Kenneally. The man's injuries were not life-threatening, Kenneally said. About 6:30 p.m., gunfire was reported on Warren Street, along the parade route, but no one was injured, police said.

Last year there were four stabbings in one hour over the festival weekend. A dozen people were shot, and police arrested four people on gun-possession charges. In an effort to preemptively stanch possible violence at this weekend's celebration, police arrested 56 people Friday who were wanted on default warrants.

Yesterday, police were out in force - in cruiser, on bicycle, and on foot - patrolling the parade route and doing everything they could "to make the festival safe and fun for all attending," said officer James Kenneally. "That's our primary goal." By 7 p.m., he said, there had been 25 arrests on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to violent crimes.

Patrick watched the parade near the end of its route on Blue Hill Avenue and danced on the review stand, he said.

"You would have to be made of stone not to have a good time," the governor said "There's been some challenges in the community, but today is a joyful day."

Not far from where the parade began, Laticia Tolentino, 24, was dancing. Tolentino lives near the parade route and said she has been attending the festival all her life. "You can't avoid it when the music is this loud," she said.

Tolentino also said the parade focuses on unity. Her family is from Cape Verde. She doesn't march in this parade, she said, but she comes to cheer on her Trinidadian friends and to have a good time.

"I just hope the people in the community can respect what's going on out here," she said. "It's tough enough in this community. I think the violence takes away from a good day."

Globe correspondent Padraig Shea contributed to this report.