A million or so revellers can't be wrong.

Heralding the 38th annual Caribana Parade of Bands as a "major success," organizers boasted smiles yesterday as bright as the midday sun as the West Indies cultural fete turned the Lakeshore into a star-studded island paradise.

Even hip-hop superstar Jay-Z took some time out of his hard-knock life to see what the fuss is all about. "I think it's great," he said. "I kept hearing about this so I wanted to come up here."

Surrounded by a massive entourage that rivalled the number of masqueraders in the parade, the rapper and Roc-A-Fella Records CEO arrived in a convoy of at least seven packed SUVs at 4:30 p.m. before spending about 25 minutes in the VIP tent with fellow hip-hopper Kanye West and some 30 others.

"I appreciate all the love in Toronto, man," Jay-Z said. "I didn't know it was such a high-energy town."

Natalie Gibson, 23, was among the hordes of fans who mobbed Jay-Z and crew as they departed around 5 p.m.

"It's exhilarating to see people from the music videos," Gibson said, checking pics she shot on a digital camera.

Organizers with the Caribbean Cultural Committee couldn't offer a scientific attendance estimate, but spokesman Rolph Warner mentioned the oft-used figure of one million people. Still, he said, organizers wouldn't have a conclusive attendance figure for at least a few days.

Warner did say the parade had more participants this year, thanks in part to two new bands, including the spectacular debut of Carnival Nationz, the mas band of Marcus and Curtis Eustace, who this year split from Caribana icon Louis Saldenah's mas band to form their own outfit, featuring 700 dancers.

"It's something I always wanted to do," Marcus Eustace said, insisting there's no rivalry between him and Saldenah.

Warner seeks more government and corporate funds to take the annual celebration " up a notch" as the parade nears its 40th anniversary.

"We are saying that as an organization, we want to appeal to the corporate community to get their participation," Warner said. "This is our 38th year here. We're getting ready for our 40th year, at which point we want to have a major celebration."

Parade Queen Laverne Moore, 43, walked up the parade route ahead of parade king Dexter Seusahai. Both said Caribana is an integral part of the Toronto summer. "It's very important because there's a lot of West Indian people living in Toronto," Moore said.

"It's fun, a lot of fun," Seusahai, 36, said. "It's very important because it brings a lot of money into Toronto."

Added parade-goer and University of Western Ontario professor Anton Alahar: "For one day out of 365, black people have an opportunity to express themselves. We use this as our escape valve, culturally, musically, vociferously. It's our way of saying ... we've arrived."