The origin of the word Junkanoo is obscure. Some say it comes from the French "L'inconnu" (meaning the unknown), in reference to the masks worn by the paraders; or "junk enoo," the Scottish settlers' reference to the parades, meaning "junk enough;" or "John Canoe," the name of an African tribal chief who demanded the right to celebrate with his people even after being brought to the West Indies in slavery.
It is believed that this festival began during the 16th and 17th centuries. The slaves were given a special holiday at Christmas time, when they could leave the plantations to be with their family and celebrate the holidays with African dance, music and costumes. After emancipation, they continued this tradition and, today, Junkanoo has evolved from its simple origins to a formal, more organized parade with sophisticated, intricate costumes, themed music and incentive prizes.
The participants of the Junkanoo Festival thoroughly plan out the parade into groups of about 500 to 3,000 members, who invest months and months in preparation for the big day, aiming to grab first prize. Competition is so fierce that groups have a “shack” (base camp) where they practice day in and day out on their routines so there is some very well choreographed dancing through the streets of the Bahamas during Junkanoo. At the end of Junkanoo, judges award prizes to those with the best costumes, music, and overall presentation. After Junkanoo is over, the various “crews” start on their plans for the following year.
On December 26 we took an afternoon nap and then actually went to bed around 8:00 p.m. and got up at 10:30 p.m. We met up with Jana and Michael and started our walk downtown. Within a mile, one of the staff at a marina we passed asked if we’d like him to call a cab for us – we said yes. Oh, did I mention that the weather had turned very windy and the temps were in the 50’s. Not as bad as a winter blizzard, but we did bundle up. The whole experience was unbelievable. The viewing areas were packed and we were glad we had seats. The information on Junkanoo indicated it ran from around 1 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. We figured we’d last a couple of hours. However, once you’re there, you are really caught up in all the action and we ended up staying until the sun was rising. First time we’ve stayed up all night in quite awhile.
I’m posting several pictures, but there is no way they can do justice to the sights and sounds of Junkanoo. It is something you have to experience in person. We were glad we made the effort to participate. We made it back home around 7:30 a.m. and went to bed.
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| This was the seating area where we had tickets. We arrived just before midnight and it wasn't yet crowded. |
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| Let the show begin. This was one of the first groups -- The Root group and their theme was Festival of the Bulls (I think). Michael talked with a local that had a lot of experience with participating in Junkanoo and he explained that each group came up with a theme and then their whole part of the parade had to tie into that theme. |
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| More of the Root group |
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| Each of the entries had a large portion that was a band. Along with horns and drums they also played conch shells, bells, whistles and other make shift instruments |
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| This was part of a group called Fancy Dancer |
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| Also part of Fancy Dancer |
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| One of the larger group's theme was Exporation of the Scriptures. Here these dancers represented water. There was a man dressed as Moses that came down the middle and parted the water. |
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| More of the Exploration of Scriptures group |
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| This group's theme was Tribute to Mother |
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| Costume decorated in the mother theme |
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| This group's theme was Colors of Charity |
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| The band portion of the Colors of Charity group |
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| This group's theme was Let the Music Play -- another very large group. Each of the groups had several large floats, several dancing groups which were all in elaborate costumes and a large band group, also in costumes. |
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| The next few pictures are also from the Let the Music Play theme |
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| One Man Band was part of the group |
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| An example of the colorful costumes worn by the band members |
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| I believe this is Bob Marley |
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| Another float in the music group |
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| This was the lead float for the largest group -- the Saxons -- and their theme dealt with the Conquest of Earth |
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| Individual costume depicting the Fountain of Youth. These were very large bulky costumes and, with the high wind, they were very hard to control. |
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| These last few pictures are all still part of the large Saxon group. We were told it had over 3,000 members, all of whom marched in the parade either as part of a float, an individual dancer in a costume or as part of the band. |
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| The sun was starting to come up as this group finally finished passing by us. At that point, we were ready to head home. WHAT A NIGHT (or morning) !!!! |
A clip from the band of Fancy Dancers
A clip of the band from Let the Music Play
