The Junkanoo observance is hard to put into words. It is an observance of culture – with dancing, parades and active
music that dates back to the 18th century in the Bahamas, Caribbean. People participating in the train all get super dressed in fancy, colourful costumes and masks to observe their culture and history.
The party has gotten so like that they have made a separate observance for the summer months. There is also a Junior Junkanoo program for children in public and individual schools to remain the tradition going. The march can have up to 1,000 people spin to goatskin drums, cowbells, whistles, and horns and begin in the early morning hours, around 2 am and goes to about 10 am – with the most exciting hours happening between 3-6 am as that is the liveliest.
At the end of the celebratory parade, cash prizes are given out for the best costume, which people spend months making, the best music and the best overall group presentation.
A Celebration of Artistry and Tradition
Junkanoo is observed on December 26 and January 1 of each year. Its following honour is on December 26. It is celebrated in music, dance, and costume parades over the English-speaking Caribbean. The trains are most prominent in the Bahamas. Junkanoo is also observed among the Black-Caribbean diaspora in Miami and Key West in the United States. The gala comes from a long history of subjugating African diaspora people in the Bahamas, celebrating the holidays granted around Christmas. The word’s etymology is disputed, but many believe it is named after John Canoe, the European name given to the head of the Ahanta people.
Junkanoo comes from a long history of subjugating African diaspora people in the Bahamas who observe the holidays during the Christmas season. The tradition continued after emancipation from slavery. Today, it is a ceremonious and organized parade with intricate costumes, music, and prizes.
The word’s etymology is disputed, but many believe it is named after John Canoe, the European name stated to the chief of the Ahanta people. As per Edward Long, an 18th-century archivist and enslaver, John Canoe was an ally soldier for Germany until he deserted them to bear his Ahanta people and fought European control of the about. Since news of his victory reached Jamaica, he became an observed figure from Christmas of 1708 onwards. Twenty years after his victory, his stronghold was burst by Fante forces sponsored by the British. As an outcome, the Ahanta, Nzima (Akan), and Fante convicts were taken as convicts of war to Jamaica.
A Vibrant Showcase of Bahamian Pride
Junkanoo comprises motifs of battles in Akan fashion. Ahantan war masks and war dance genesis have also been a part of the parade. Junkanoo is celebrated in music, dance, and costume parades across the English-speaking Caribbean. The trains are most prominent in the Bahamas. Junkanoo is also observed among the Black-Caribbean diaspora in Miami and Key West.
The spirit of Junkanoo, as Arlene Nash Ferguson — who locals have named the Queen of Junkanoo — explains, “is a spirit that is almost impracticable to put into words.” The force of the parade pulses in Nassau, along the islet nation capital’s busy Bay Street, to be exact, though it is observed across all 16 islands.
“I cannot start to tell you what Junkanoo does to and for the person of The Bahamas,” says Nash Ferguson, also the creator of the Educulture Junkanoo Museum, which informs the story and history of the gala. “At Junkanoo…the music is the core of the gala.”
Setting it apart from how Carnival show across many other islets
in the Caribbean, which moves on to the soundtrack of the season’s soca music tape, with each island escorting its vibes and variations, Junkanoo’s music is always relaxed live. And conch shell horn, local goat skin, Goombay drums, blare and brass, are the stars of the auditory show.
“Our drummers have their drums fastened across the shoulder; they’re beating them with their hands, not sticks. Our sellers are shaking their cowbells, so the music is there. And when those drums’ lick off,’ as people would say, when those drums begin booming, it is arduous to describe,” Nash Ferguson says. “I am 72 years old. I was in the march from [when] I was four. My costumes this year — there are two cavalcades— are well underway.
A Dazzling Display of Music, Dance, and Costumes
And the only thing aside from God’s poise and mercy that would let me dance down Bay Street for hours in this towering suit is those drums…when that elation hits you. You’ve just got to go.”
Despite its high energy and fete-like atmosphere, Junkanoo has a history that runs much more hollow than a street party.
“Junkanoo in The Bahamas is a centuries-old festival, and it developed in the hearts and the souls of subjugate Africans who found themselves carried across a frightening sweep of the ocean to a land that, however beautiful, was not their own, and the expedition was not their option,” says Nash Ferguson, writer of “I Come to Get Me!: An Inside Look at the Junkanoo Festival.”
