Junkannu

Addition to Last post

After the potluck we retired for a good 2 hours sleep. We woke at 2 to dingy into town for the 3 o’clock start of Junkannu. Junkannu is the Bahamas version of carnival. It is held on Boxing Day which is initially a British holiday that arose as a day off for the servants after they catered for their masters on Christmas. There are elaborate brightly colored costumes, large floats and marching bands. All ages participate in the festivities. Dancing along with the beat in fancy headdresses will be 3 year old girls, while 3 year old boys help make the beat with drums made out of soup cans. At the same time 80 year olds will be in a costume marked for judging. Junkannu is a contest between two bands. They walk the course from 3 am to sunrise trying to stir up as much emotion and fervor in fans as they can. Judges walk through out the groups judging costumes and music. The beer that everyone drinks is called Kalik(Click) named after the sound that cow bells since cow bells form an integral part of Junkannu. The beat they provide is hypnotic. It is hard to give the costumes justice without pictures, but I didn’t take my camera because I knew the dingy ride over would be wet. The larger costumes have multiple segments of brightly colored ornaments which pulse independently as the wearer bounces to the beat. A peacock would be jealous. The smaller costumes are worn by the youth dancers that are interspersed through out the parade. It was quite a sight. I can only hope we get to see more Caribbean festivals throughout the trip.