Entrepreneur Stephen Rolle is eagerly awaiting government's word on Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival. He has a Carnival Cruise Line ship full of people waiting too - almost 50 percent more than had booked with him last year.
The Bahamas Carnival Cruise has grown by leaps and bounds in its second year, with 152 reservations in the books compared to 84 one year ago. And the inquiries are still coming in, according to Rolle.
"People are still booking," he said. "We just had a group of three book as of the weekend just passed, and people are still making inquires about the costumes and such."
Once again the government is silent on the Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival (BJC) issue, with only three months left until the advertised dates of May 4-6. There has not been any talk about budgets or international advertising, though Guardian Business understands the Bahamas National Festival Commission (BNFC) is gearing up to begin its blitz of last-minute activities, like it has done the past two years.
However, with no international advertising started yet, the planning and booking window for visitors will be slim once again.
Rolle took it upon himself to begin his advertising early - almost one year in advance - hoping government and BJC Road Fever bands would be ahead of the game for 2017. Once again, the bands are staring down a late start, with a collective group launch scheduled for February 4 at the national stadium.
Some carnival bands in Trinidad launch their costume designs almost eight months in advance. One Miami carnival band began advertising its concept for 2017 the week after the 2016 Miami parade. Rolle's customers have been asking for costume concepts since the third quarter of last year.
Despite this, Rolle has formed a symbiotic relationship with the carnival bands, selling their costumes to his cruise customers, ensuring that bands can show their best to their foreign guests on the road.
President of the Bahamas Carnival Band Owners Association Dario Tirelli said the groups are putting together a proposal to lobby the government for funds for this year's parade. Last year the bands got no seed money from government, but put on a largely successful street parade, though many bands complained of low to no profit.
However, many of the bands have registered once again to be part of this year's Road Fever parade, and that's what Carnival visitors look forward to the most. Rolle said most of his inquiries focus on the costumes and the size of the bands and the parade.
"One of the biggest questions is how many people are usually on the road, and how many bands there are," he said. "They also ask if there are any artists on the road and if there is an after party."
Tirelli said the bands have recognized that, to put heads in beds, which was part of the mandate set out for carnival, they have to make the parade successful while making the affair lucrative for local vendors, who will build the costumes and outfit the music and drink trucks.
"We are going to have workshops with vendors to maximize productivity," he said.
The cost of Bahamas Carnival has put a bitter taste in the mouths of Bahamians for the past two years, especially since there has seemed to be no economic return for the country after an almost $21 million expenditure.
But people like Rolle have found the niche that government had hoped would be spawned from the idea of a Bahamas Carnival.
"Because I travel for carnival, I knew a lot of people would love the opportunity to travel as well," Rolle said.
"I know other people that travel for carnival, so I decided that taking advantage of our proximity to Miami made sense. And because Bahamas carnival is so new, and they don't know certain things, we are able to put certain things together for them in terms of travel and entertainment."

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