Celebrating Junkanoo in the Bahamas
April 25, 2006 – 8:47 amThe Bahamas is a fabulous place to visit over the holidays.
Why? Because it’s the home to the “Junkanoo”, a festive parade that takes place on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) and New Year’s Day.
Junkanoo is only celebrated in the Bahamas, and is a cultural event for the people that live there.
Visitors will be entertained by dancers dressed colorful and exotic costumes, and original music made with drums, cow bells, horns, scrapers, and brass instruments. There are several groups that perform in Junkanoo. These groups are sponsored by different organizations and companies to absorb the cost of costumes and other materials.
Groups can be as small as 4 people and as large as 10. Roughly 75 groups perform at each Junkanoo, each hoping to take home the Grand Prize for their performance.
Junkanoo starts at around 2:00 AM on both Boxing and New Year’s Day. It normally ends around 9AM.
Tickets are available for bleacher seating for best viewing, however just like any other parade, there’s plenty of standing room. Cameras and Video Cameras are permitted at this event, so be sure to charge your camera batteries and bring plenty of film (or digital memory) to record the festivities.
Be sure to pencil this in if you’re going to be in Nassau, Bahamas over the holidays.
You’ll be happy that you did.
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