The Tribune

By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

Amid concerns that Nassau’s annual holiday carnival has been cancelled, the festival’s organiser confirmed that the celebrations will still take place.

However, the long-time organiser will not be in charge of this year’s event. They say they are “unable to work under the conditions set forth by the people now in charge”.

In an advertisement placed in The Tribune yesterday, Holiday Carnival & RAC Amusements Ltd announced: “After 23 years of bringing the Annual Christmas Carnival and Circus to Nassau, we regret to inform the Bahamian people that we are no longer doing these events at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre.

“After great consideration we determined we are unable to work under the conditions set forth by the people now in charge... We ask you all to be aware we are no longer presenting these events, nor are we responsible for any payments or operations at these events.”

News of the announcement spread rapidly, leaving many Bahamians to question if the annual event had been cancelled.

A call to Becky Hitchcock of Holiday Carnival only confirmed their announcement came as a result of alleged procedural conflicts with the Bahamian-based organisers.

She explained after more than 20 years of organising the event, she is sad an agreement could not be reached.

“I spent a lot of time over there. I spent 23 Christmases over there and I raised children over there,” she said. “It’s a whole lifestyle change... You get a lot of friends that you spend time with and you know how that is when you go to the same place every year and all of a sudden that ends, it’s a little sad.”

She explained her company just did not agree with the terms offered them, but would not divulge details of the reported conditions.

When reached for comment, Stafford “Scorpio” Evans, head of Scorpio Construction Ltd and in charge of this year’s holiday carnival, downplayed Holiday Carnival’s reports of being unable to work in conditions offered by his company.

“We never entered into a contractual agreement (or) a proposed contractual agreement with them,” he said. “When they came to town, I said also I was looking at somebody else as well and I told them I may be using a new group.”

He said he wasn’t involved when Holiday Carnival first arrived 23 years ago and added: “Sometimes you need a change of operation in your life.”

Mr Evans told The Tribune there will still be a carnival this year, organised by a different company.

“It’s not cancelled. It is going on – it is on,” he said. “We renewed our contract and we just made our arrangements with a new operator. That’s the bottom line.”

The annual carnival will open next Wednesday and continue until January 21 under the organisation of Smoky Mountains Amusement company, he said.