Despite the criticism from some members of the opposition, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe said Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival is here to stay and will be a permanent fixture on the Bahamian cultural calendar.
The curtains closed on carnival last Saturday with performances by multiple Bahamian artists. The festival, which also featured a mega concert with headliner Machel Montano, drew thousands of Bahamians.
Wilchcombe said officials are still crunching the numbers as they seek to determine the financial impact of the festival and also review what changes need to be made ahead of next year's event.
"At the moment there is a postmortem that is to take place during the course of the week," Wilchcombe said this week.
"It'll last obviously several days, perhaps a week or two, to look at all that took place; a review of the entire two years of preparation and the execution, certainly the relationships, that have now been developed as a result in The Bahamas and outside of The Bahamas, all are going to be pursued and we'll look at how to improve upon what took place.
"The truth is it's here to stay. It's going to be on the calendar. Bahamians generally loved it, we have to improve upon it. It has to become a marketing tool for The Bahamas insofar as tourism is concerned and so we have to look at our marketing efforts.
"... But the truth is we have a lot to do. But let's look at where we've been and where we're going."
Although the government has declared Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival a success, Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman Michael Pintard said on Thursday that Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival did not reflect the "uniqueness" of Bahamian culture.
"If I am going to put on a international festival where things Bahamian are being reflected, I first begin in crafting that by using the correct banner under which I then put all of my cultural creation," said Pintard, who was a guest of the Star 106.5 FM radio show Jeffrey with host Jeffrey Lloyd.
"I would have not chosen that banner for the simple reason that the Bahamas Carnival then becomes one stop on an international carnival calendar as opposed to if I chose a Junka-Fest or a Junkanoo-Fest, or a Rake-N-Scrape Festival or some other term associated or unique to us."
Several other FNM Officials said while the carnival drew large crowds, they will await a full analysis of the event before joining those celebrating in its success.
Bahamas National Festival Commission (BNFC) Chairman Paul Major pledged to reveal the revenue and economic impact generated from carnival by the first week in June.
Major previously projected that the economic impact could be up to $60 million.
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