It's officially the year of the inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival, and before the end of the month, the name of the Grammy award-winning artist who will take to the Music Masters concert stage is expected to be announced according to Bahamas National Festival Commission CEO Roscoe Dames.
The international artist will be joined on stage for the May 8 concert to be staged at Fort Charlotte,by The Bahamas' own Grammy award winning group Baha Men, along with the 10 song competition finalists competing on stage.
The international artist and the finalists are expected to be made public by January 15, according to Dames.
"We are finalizing one or two details, and once that is done, and possibly before January 15, we will be able to make the announcement as to who the finalists are that will share the stage with Baha Men," he said.
They will be crowned "Master of the Bahamian Sound".
Twenty-five songs by 19 artists and musicians, identified through the first Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival Song Competition.
The artists anxiously waiting to hear if they are in the top 10 for the chance at the title include Angelique Sabrina White (We Are The Night and Make Ya Feel Good); Georgina Ward-Rigby (In The Carnival); Preston "Puzzle" Wallace (Bahamas Carnival); Terelle Tynes-Wilson (Roll Mama, Mash Up This Carnival); Ericka "Lady E" Symonette (My Islands In The Sun); Dwayne Simmons (Bahamaland By Da Sea); Khiara Sherman (Fly Away With Me); Raj Saunders (Carnival Is Here); Val "Shugar" Richards (Bahamas Carnival), Cambrell Poitier (Bahamas Come Together); Sammi Starr (Jump In Da Line), Sonovia Pierre (Carnival Is My Junkanoo. Bahamas Carnival and Carnival Party); Colyn McDonald (Jump & Carry On and Carnival Is Here); Bodine Johnson (All Day All Night); George Christopher Fox (Happy Birthday Bahamas); Christopher "Sketch" Carey (Rushin Down the Road and Wine Like a Champion); Raymond Campbell (Better In The Bahamas); Tyrone "Plati Dread" Bartlett" (Junkanoo Rock) and Ian Alleyne-McQuay (Going Home).
With a little over four months to the May 7-9 weekend of non-stop festivities, Dames said "the full press is on" for the events that will include JunkaMania, Music Masters, Midnight Rush and the Road Fever.
Participants will be able to immerse themselves in the arts, craft, Junkanoo and Rake n' Scrape music as well as Bahamian cuisine; along with a series of concerts, cultural shows, street parades and Junkanoo parties as they let loose after Lent as the Carnival season starts right after Easter Monday.
"I encourage everyone who has an interest in our culture, who has an interest in expressing us as Bahamian to come on out and find an opportunity to not only express themselves, but gain financially," said Dames. "We want to put our best foot forward not only for visitors, but for us as a people. We want to showcase who we are and show off what we are.
And the commission is appealing to Junkanoo groups, musicians and entertainers to participate in JunkaMania, which will be a presentation of Junkanoo orchestras with a maximum of 50 musicians on stage. The main criteria for participation is that groups use Junkanoo instruments, but they are allowed to introduce different instruments like the keyboard, harps, violins, vocals, so that the end result is an orchestral presentation of Junkanoo on a concert stage. Dames said they are pushing to get people signed up for JunkaMania through the end of January to have as many entrants as possible.
And anyone who has released a song between Easter Monday 2014 and Easter Monday 2015 can enter their song into the Road Fever event, the main masquerade parade. The song that is played the most is the most popular will win the prize.
The Cultural Village which will be set up against the backdrop of Nassau Harbour and Junkanoo Beach within the grounds of the historic Clifford Park at Fort Charlotte and Arawak Cay will be the epicenter of Bahamian culture, bringing the islands of The Bahamas together with vendors showcasing unique offerings from each island -- food, culture, and art and craft. It will feature non-stop entertainment.
Musicians and entertainers will also factor heavily into the scene at the Cultural Village according to Dames, with music from early in the day into late evening.
"We're going to need to fill those stages with local entertainment, local bands, local musicians and we're appealing to all genres of music played here in The Bahamas so we can represent as many Bahamian musicians and entertainers on these multiple stages," he said. Musicians and entertainers should register with the National Festival Commission.
And in the spirit of Junkanoo, street performers, visual artists, designers and musicians will converge for what is expected will be an epic collage of culture at Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival, with the cultural pavilion an artistic mecca with poets, storytellers, visual artists, dancers, street performers and Junkanooers showcasing their talents.
Leading up to the ultimate Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival weekend on New Providence will be the Grand Bahama leg of the festivities, April 17-18 during with the 19 semifinalists will perform the 25 songs over the two days, with the Midnight Rush on Taino Beach.
And with the Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival mere months away, there are still those that are behind the event and others that are opposed. According to Dames, it's going to happen.
"With anything that's uncertain, and a first time, everyone's either anxious, nervous, not sure, so you have a cross section of that, and then you have the other component where people are very excited of the opportunity, but the event is going to happen. A lot of effort and a lot of resources have been put in place to ensure that this is a successful project, not only for the participants, but for the country. This will be an expression of our everything -- food, culture, art, drama, and talent, to not only visitors who are planning to come here, but to Bahamians who may not get a chance to see all of this in one place at one time. We have Bahamians who have never visited some of the Family Islands -- so all of the islands we are encouraging to be represented in the village, and now people will have a chance to walk around with family and friends and see things from around the country that they never got a chance to," he said.

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