Bahamas National Festival Commission (BNFC) Chairman Paul Major admitted yesterday that the commission had yet to begin planning for the 2016 carnival.
"The commission has not yet had its first meeting because they have not yet received their charge from the principal," Major said, referring to the government.
The carnival festivities are scheduled for May 2016. While the commission has yet to get the ball rolling, Carnival Band Owners Association President Dario Terrelli said the bands are not waiting on the government to begin and has already started its own preparations.
"We are not waiting on [anybody]," he said. "This is not a wait and see game. This is about us investing our dollars again to get a return on our investment. So we are going forward. Come January 1, you will see an initiative by the association and you'll see an agenda going out by the carnival bands about their costume launch."
The BNFC was heavily criticized last year for overspending and a lack of proper planning. The festival's budget ballooned from $9.1 million to over $12.9 million of public funds this year. Major said earlier this year that he is confident the BNFC will reign in the spending of public funds below $10 million for the 2016 Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival.
"I believe we can and I believe we will, primarily because I think we'll have a lot more sponsorships next year... we've now got data to support whatever it is that we're proposing or telling the people about the number of eyeballs that will see your ads, or the kind of benefit you could derive from the amount of people we're going to attract. Last year that was a hard sell," he said.
Major said next year the commission expects to draw more lucrative sponsorships, pinning 2015's low international sponsorships on the BNFC's failure to secure a headliner in advance.
"We would have had them [in 2015] if we had decided on that talent," he said. "That's a part of the contract we have with our marketing partners."
The BNFC didn't reveal Trinidadian artist Machel Montano as the headliner until weeks before the parade. Terrelli said he still has faith in the commission despite the lack of movement.
"I know Paul Major, they're working hard," he said. "Unfortunately like most government agencies it takes a little while because there are a lot of checks and balances that go along so I can't knock those guys. That's why we are working as hard as possible, the band association, to make sure it happens and happens the best way we see fit because carnival is about the parade. Any activities before that day [are] null and void if we can't get the parade perfect, so we are working hard to [do that]."
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