Hundreds of Junkanoo fans and participants braved the chilly conditions at Arawak Cay last night and many of them cheered as an official announced that the Valley Boys had captured the 2005 Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade, which ended hours earlier.
The group was declared the unofficial winners in Division ‘A’ with 3,631 points. One Family finished second with 3,579 points and Roots secured a third place finish with 3,448 points.
Saxons finished fourth with 3,174 points and the Prodigal Sons placed fifth with 1,727 points.
In the best music category, the Prodigal Sons finished fifth with 505 points, the Saxons finished fourth with 758 points, and Roots placed third with 772 points. Finishing second in the best music category was the Valley Boys totalling 805 points, and One Family won that category with 816 points.
The ‘B’ division was won by One Love Soldiers who earned 477 points, Fancy Dancers placed second with 310 points, Colours finished third with 300 points, and Colours Junkanoo Group Limited secured 226 points to take fourth place.
Conquerors for Christ finished fifth totalling 194, Body of Christ sixth with 115 points, Mystical Bombers seventh with 65 points.
In the division ‘A’ best banner category Roots finished third, One Family second, and the Valley Boys first with 164 points.
Results in the best costume category were: Prodigal Sons fifth, Saxons fourth, One Family third, Roots second, and the Valley Boys were declared winners of the best costume category.
An estimated 10,000 spectators had packed the bleachers lining the Junkanoo route while thousands more lined the streets of downtown Nassau, eager to cheer their favourite group on to victory in the Doyle Burrows Boxing Day 2005 Junkanoo Parade.
“The parade is sold out, and in addition to that, we just have so many Bahamians who want to see it now. I don’t think that any parade has been sold out to this degree, where every single ticket available has gone, and I suspect if we had another five or ten thousand more they would have sold out,” said Minister of Youth Sports and Culture, Neville Wisdom when he spoke with The Bahama Journal during the event.
“The demand has been that great.”
Mr. Wisdom believes the parade, which was delayed a day because of a bad weather forecast, went “very well,” considering the number of challenges it posed by virtue of its size and the huge crowd it attracts.
Meantime, Doyle Burrows – whom the parade honoured – voiced his concerns over the “drastic” change in Junkanoo parades over the last 10 years.
“The difference is the costume has changed. I think we are losing some of the craft of Junkanoo. A lot of people either don’t know or people haven’t been passing on the fringing tradition. That’s gone,” he said.
“The shortcuts are there. Everyone wants to halfway fringe the costume or paste the costume or paint the costume and figure they can bring the costume to life with all of the decorations, but we are losing in that case.”
However, the crowd apparently thought differently. Excited supporters cheered on their favourite groups and jeered at their rivals, while others just enjoyed the show.
Said Sherill Johnson: “I don’t have a favourite group, but I think all of them were nice, the music was nice and all the costumes were nice.”
Self-proclaimed Valley Boys fan, Chairmaine Gibson, admitted that she didn’t feel her group did its best on the first lap, but also felt that others groups fell short.
“I think the Saxons (Superstars) didn’t perform that well either on the first lap, although they were really pretty. They were behind schedule so the group marshals just rushed them through, but One Family was good,” Ms Gibson said.
Cleomi Lafleur, “a die hard Saxons fan,” thought that the Saxons were “pretty”, but thought that One Family and Prodigal Sons had better music.
Meantime, Tyrone Rolle thought the Saxons Superstars were the “best in the world,” and Robin Ferguson said it was “Valley or nothing.”
“I don’t even think it’s going to be close,” Mr. Ferguson said.
Darren Bastian, chairman of the One Family Junkanoo group, thought that his group performed at its best.
“Based on our group’s performance this morning I’m very satisfied that we will be victorious,” he said.
In Division A, Saxons kicked off the parade with their, “Amazing Amazon Rainforest-Earth’s Awesome Wonder,” theme. They were followed by the Valley Boys with their theme “Let My People Go.”
The Music Makers put on a show with “The Great Cigatoo Festival,” followed by One Family’s “Show me the Money,” and Prodigal Sons, “The Divine Revelations of Heaven.”
Thirteen groups ran in Division B. Conquerors for Christ, was followed by One Love Soldiers, Colours, Fancy Dancers, The Body of Christ, Colours Junkanoo Group, Z-Bandits, Original Congos, Mystical Bombers, Bain Town Rockers, Musical Legend, Foundation and Barabas & The Tribe.
Division C was the Children’s Group, Division D was for individual junkanoers and Division F, and the “Fun Group” saw participants like the Bahamas Union of Teachers, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., Sting Junkanoo Group and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
Groups were penalised 100 points for late entry, 300 points for swapping numbers, 100 points for not being ready on time and 100 points for each of the following – failure to meet entry limits, more than two wheels on a lead costume and more than one lifter for a lead costume.
Behind the scenes, 31 doctors and two ambulances were on stand-by along the Junkanoo route, in the event anyone got seriously hurt. Meantime, plainclothes and uniform officers mingled with the crowd, searching spectators for weapons at strategically placed checkpoints.
According to police press liaison officer, Walter Evans, their aim was to make the parade as safe and secure as possible.
By: Darrin Culmer and Tosheena Robinson-Blair, The Bahama Journal
