Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival has officially launched. Last Friday we got a taste of the songs the Music Masters semifinalists will be bringing to concerts in Grand Bahama and Nassau. And with costume launches galore, now we are truly "Road Ready!"
It was a pleasure to find a video on Facebook that showed our Bahamian dancers in Carnival costume at Smoothie King Centre during Bahamas Night in New Orleans, dancing to Bodine Johnson's Song "Good Feeling". What was even more pleasurable was to see the cheerleaders then join our Bahamian dancers. The scene was epic, and filled me with a sense of pride for my country and for Bahamas Carnival.
It was exciting to see Bahamians make the pilgrimage to Trinidad Carnival for the first time this year. For many of them, their first experience with carnival was here in The Bahamas over the past two years. For many of them, the experience felt so good they wanted to know what the fuss was about in Trinidad. It didn't disappoint.
Coming back home now, many Bahamians have an appreciation for their own carnival, a better understanding of what makes the experience so existential, and the insatiable need for more carnival. There is nothing like it in the world.
But the Trinidad pilgrimage is not cheap. Parties, airfare, accommodation, and mas can run a masquerader into around $3,500 when all is said and done. For some, well worth it. For others, not doable - ever!
Happily, Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival's road experience is amazingly close to Trinidad's Monday and Tuesday road experience. All we ask for is good music, good drinks and great vibes. So far The Bahamas carnival bands have not disappointed.
The bands, however, have had their share of struggles building their brands and businesses in the past two years. It's understandable that, to put on a feat that comes even within an inch of the Trinidad experience, it takes lots of money. But they have achieved it.
Bahamians who have always wanted to play mas and have not been able to do so in Trinidad, can do so in their own country at one-twelfth the price of Trinidad. Well worth the experience.
Having visited Miami Carnival last year for the first time, I was overwhelmingly disappointed in the experience on the road. The Bahamas' experience is far superior to that of Miami - and I'm being conservative in my wording. But thousands of people flock to Miami each year.
This year I have opted to join the Bahamas Carnival Cruise and sail from Miami to Nassau to record the experience that almost 120 others will have on their way to Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival. Blue Monkey Bahamas, headed by Stephan Rolle, has put together an exceptional cruise product for Carnival - exactly what the festival was created to do... create enterprise.
The Bahamas National Festival Commission has promised to reign in spending and eventually privatize the carnival. They have had a rough start, with their overspending and all, but some special things are beginning to come out of carnival.
Parties have become fun, bonding sessions, more so than stuck-up, fight-ridden debacles. Creativity from all sectors seems to be at an all-time high. Artists are crossing genres. Young artists are making moves throughout the Caribbean. The rest of the Caribbean is looking at The Bahamas as one of them again.
We share similar histories, cultures, words, food with the rest of the Caribbean. It does not pay to ostracize ourselves. We need to welcome our neighbors to our shores to experience us. Indigenous music and food is just one way to achieve that. But we can also throw one hell of a party, because that's all it is - and a party, with all its elements, is all we are looking for.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
