Junkanoo is a street parade with music, which occurs in many towns across The Bahamas every Boxing Day (December 26) and New Year's Day. The largest Junkanoo parade happens in Nassau, the capital.
Junkanoo was celebrated in various parts of the Americas, and variants of the word's orthography may be found in each place - Jonkonnu or John Canoe in Jamaica; John Kuner in North Carolina; and John Canoe in Belize. In The Bahamas, newspaper accounts of Junkanoo in Nassau between 1849 and 1950 referred to the parade alternately as the Christmas Masquerade, Christmas Carnival, and John Canoe. By the mid-1950's the terms John Canoe and Junkanoo were used interchangeably, and by 1970 Junkanoo became the parade's standard nomenclature. Junkanoo groups "rush" from midnight until shortly after dawn, to the music of cowbells, in costumes made from cardboard covered in tiny shreds of colourful crepe paper, competing for cash prizes.
Modern Bahamian Junkanoo is a parade: a showcase for Bahamian goombay music and new Junkanoo costumes. 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 Saxons, The Valley Boys, The Music Makers, Roots, One Family and as of late the Prodigal Sons. Groups of the past included 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 and Sting.
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 PepsiCo and is only available in The Bahamas, and also a modernized style of music sung by Bahamian band Baha Men.
See also
Sources
- Nissenbaum, Stephen. The Battle for Christmas. New York: Vintage Books, 1997.
- Wisdon, 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)
Gallery
Parade Participant in costume during the 2006 Parade
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Costume Sans Participant After the Parade
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Costume Shoes Sans Participant After the Parade
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External links
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