In collaboration with Unique Bahamas International - a Bahamian production resource company - the Bahamas National Festival Commission (BNFC) touted several improvements of the upcoming Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival during a press conference yesterday. The festival starts on May 5 in Da Cultural Village at the Western Esplanade and May 6 at Clifford Park for the Music Masters finals and mega concert.

Patrick McGrew, executive director of Unique Bahamas International, spoke about several changes.

"I think we learned some valuable lessons from 2015 that have been changed and modified for 2016 to ensure that the guest experience is much better," said McGrew. "This year, your technology has even changed from a ticketing perspective," said McGrew.

He explained that the ticketing systems would be operated using radio frequency identification (RFID).

"Guests can simply walk through a portal, and on their wrist is a weatherproof band. It lights up or it doesn't. If there is an issue, we can pull them to the side. But, what it does is that it makes for greater efficiency, because we saw the long lines that were experienced last year," said McGrew.

"Currently, what we have is a total of five different ticket operations that are happening at any given time."

The executive director also said there would be more available parking located in the Clifford Park area, and a better-coordinated time schedule for the artists expected to perform.

"You have got a much more amazing stage than what you saw last year. We will start on time. This year, we are going to stay to a very tight production schedule. You can expect for the event to conclude at 2:20 a.m. We are also going to manage the artists much more effectively so people aren't yawning," said McGrew.

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