The Tribune

By Simon

A story in this journal in March of this year reported: “Introduced with great fanfare in 2015, Carnival in The Bahamas was meant to establish itself as a staple on the country’s cultural calendar. Now, opinions on its future are split, with many seeing it as a fading experiment that never fully took root in Bahamian culture.”

The Tribune noted that Anthony Coakley was a co-founder of the Enigma Carnival Group. The group was launched in 2015. It ended a short four years later in 2019.

Mr Coakley observed: “The interest in Carnival is just not there. We started with 23 bands. Now, there are probably six or seven, it has dramatically declined.” There were up to 1,000 participants in some bands the early years, he noted. As of last year, some groups only managed to scrape together 20 to 30 participants.

Millions were pumped into a festival that former Prime Minister Perry Christie boasted would be a breakthrough cultural event. Nine million was initially provided for its 2015 launch.

Bahamians like a good show and to show off and shake up. We revel in novelty. Thousands in New Providence and Grand Bahama joined parties, parades, and performances with Bahamian and international artists. Though it was also billed as a major tourism event, that promise never materialised.

With his signature braggadocio and bluster, Christie enthused, with curious and misdirected rationale: “It is important to note that carnivals are the largest income-generating festivals in the world, contributing significantly to increased economic expenditure in tourism and overall economic growth in cities such as Toronto, New York, London, Miami, New Orleans, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad which hosts these special events.”

In a swirl of ahistorical gobbledygook. Mr Christie seemingly ignored the history and nature of carnivals in these jurisdictions, connected to various religious and historical observances. He failed to note the ties between carnivals and various diasporas.

Mr Christie touted: “Economic benefits are generated from the expenditures generated from increased stopovers, cruise passengers as well as local participation.”

He claimed: “With proper execution of a national carnival-styled festival and expanded scope of cultural activities in the coming years the Government of The Bahamas can anticipate a potential GDP impact of $30m from these initiatives.”

Ten years later, Carnival is mostly a bust as many predicted. Where is the $30m GDP impact? Millions that could have been invested in other cultural opportunities was splashed and wasted on partying with little to no long-term benefits. The country lost money on the misadventure.

When Mr Christie first giddily announced the idea with theatrical fanfare, it was evident that he had little in the way of a comprehensive or studied vision for the Carnival or for cultural development.

At first, he wanted a Trinidad and Tobago-style Carnival. He bragged that he was advised that the Bahamian version could eventually add one to two percent to our GDP, ignoring the economics of the T&T Carnival, especially the fact of the tens of thousands of Trinis who annually return home for the bacchanal.

Under pressure on the cultural content and authenticity of the proposed spectacular and to appease his critics, Christie used Crazy Glue to feverishly attach the name Junkanoo.

Subsequently, the head of the Bahamas Carnival Band Owners Association asked that the name Junkanoo be dropped as it misrepresented what the event was all about and mostly added to the pun intended “playmas” confusion that was associated with the ill-conceived extravaganza.

By eliding the images and notions of Junkanoo and Carnival we were opening ourselves to doing great damage to the genesis and genius of Junkanoo, especially in the minds of younger, more impressionable Bahamians. We were simultaneously sowing confusion in the minds of visitors.

Bahamas Junkanoo is deeply rooted in our history and culture, wonderfully unique to us, extraordinarily artistic, a valuable example of national identity.

It was stunning to many that Christie, the prime minister most associated with Junkanoo, was one of the prime advocates of such a culturally counterfeit carnivalesque charade!

Unable to attract a significant number of layover visitors, the more lucrative tourists, promoters desperately attempted to lure cruise ship passengers with slipshod marketing, including wooden stick figures pointing the way to Carnival venues.

Many Bahamians had a delightful time at the concerts. There were some wonderful acts. The staging of concert performances was generally professionally done.

But these were limited measures of success. We were told that the event would bring in a considerable amount of foreign exchange. In this, Carnival proved a disaster.

The economics of the Carnival did not measure up, with many businesses at Arawak Cay and along the parade route losing money.

Many vendors at the cultural village failed to make money, with some not even making back their deposits, though they were promised thousands of tourists from local hotels and cruise ships. There were reports that the government subsidised costume sales by purchasing costumes for many partygoers.

Carnival proved a boondoggle for certain political cronies, with a massive government subsidized budget that at the time was significantly larger than the under two million dollars that the government spent directly on the Boxing Day and New Year’s Day Junkanoo parades.

The economic failures of the Carnival are one matter. The other was the ongoing confusion over its cultural context and content. The appearance of foreign artists at the concerts was welcomed by many. The idea of a native cultural market and the appearance of Bahamian artists were also welcome.

But the road marches were an exercise in cultural pollution, with the importation of some of the worst excessive of the carnival experience of other cultures. The road marches were often poorly organized. Much of what was on display was vulgar.

In the lead-up to the first Carnival weekend, a video went viral of a young girl being coached to dance in an inappropriate manner.

During the road marches there were simulated sex acts, all watched by young people and children. Even many who are in no way prudish were shocked by the level of vulgarity and lewd conduct.

Though the name Junkanoo was appended to the carnival event, the Junkanoo content was limited, with Trinidad and Tobago-style Carnival given more prominence at its inception.

The development of a Bahamian cultural festival experience for residents and tourists may be a good idea. But there should be a more compelling vision of what it should look like, and how sustainable jobs and institutions might be developed around such a concept.

Despite the parading, good time and jollies had by many Bahamians, the Carnival generally failed on many fronts. A decade after its inception, the euphoria and hype has ended.

While some suggest that the Carnival may be at a crossroads, others believe it may be near its end in the years ahead. And while it may continue for some time in some guise, it has atrophied dramatically, in great measure because it lacked cultural and historical authenticity.

For many Bahamians, its eventual end is as it should be. Others have rendered an even harsher judgment on its genesis, failed promises, and wasted resources and opportunities.