Parade Participant in costume during the 2006 Parade
Junkanoo is a street parade with music, which occurs in many towns across The Bahamas every Boxing Day (December 26), New Year's Day and, more recently, in the summer on the island of Grand Bahama. The largest Junkanoo parade happens in Nassau, the capital.
History
The word "Junkanoo" derived from a African slave master and trader named, "John Canoe" in the 17th century. These slaves were not allowed much freedom and would hide in the bushes when they had the chance. While in the bushes, they would dance and make music while covered in costumes that they made from various paints that they made and leaves that they found. This festival represented the slave's freedom from slavery.
Modern Bahamian Junkanoo is a parade: a showcase for Bahamian goombay music and new Junkanoo costumes. Junkanoo groups "rush" from midnight until shortly after dawn, to the music of cowbells, goat- skin drums and various horns, in costumes made from cardboard covered in tiny shreds of colourful crepe paper, competing for cash prizes. It is also an event during which unorganized groups of Bahamians celebrate, perhaps unintentionally, themselves, their freedom and, for some, their past. It is the most visible and continually experimental artistic realm of Bahamian culture.
Parades in Nassau are judged in various catergories; A (or Major) Category, the B Category, Individual costume, and fun groups. The A catergory groups involved in the Nassau Junkanoo include The Shell Saxon Superstars (AKA The Saxons), The Valley Boys, The Music Makers, Roots, One Family and The Prodigal Sons (New). Groups of the past include, The Vikings and Chippie and the Boys. In the B category groups include One Love Soldiers, Clico Colours, Fancy Dancers, Fox Hill Congos, and Conquerors for Christ. Fun groups include The Pigs, Sting and Barabbas & The Tribe. The Tribe's debut was as an "A" category group, however, after years of bringing innovative techniques in music and costuming to Bay Street, they have returned to the spirit of Junkanoo, and are bringing the fun with a flair.
A Junkanoo parade is featured in sequences of the James Bond film Thunderball that occur in Nassau. The celebration was staged specifically for the movie since it was filmed at the wrong time of year, but local residents were enthusiastic, creating elaborate floats and costumes and involving hundreds of people. The parade was also featured in After the Sunset and Jaws The Revenge.
Junkanoo is also a fruit-flavored soda produced by Pepsi-Co and is only available in The Bahamas, and also a modernized style of music produced by the Bahamian band Baha Men. This style can be found in their songs "Back To The Island" and "Mama Lay Lay Lay", among others.
See also
Sources
- Nissenbaum, Stephen. The Battle for Christmas. New York: Vintage Books, 1997.
- Wisdom, Keith Gordon. Bahamian Junkanoo: An Act in a Modern Social Drama (Dissertation)
- Wood, Vivian Nina Michelle. Rushin` hard and runnin` hot: Experiencing the music of the Junkanoo Parade in Nassau, Bahamas (Dissertation)
- Strachan, Kristoff. Bahamian student.
Gallery
Costume Sans Participant After the Parade
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Costume Shoes Sans Participant After the Parade
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External links
