Tickets still on sale today until parade begins
NASSAU, BAHAMAS – With less than 24 hours before the kick-off of the New Year’s Day Junkanoo parade, president of the Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence (JCNP), Silbert Ferguson, on Sunday assured that the challenges groups faced on Boxing Day, which resulted in lengthy delays, have been resolved.
As of yesterday, Ferguson said all systems are in place for the smooth execution of the parade, which begins promptly on New Year’s morning at 2:00 a.m.
The Boxing Day Junkanoo parade faced challenges with a late start and long delays after a container of costumes blocked the line-up and the on-time start of one group, causing a delay of all others that followed.
“What happened Boxing Day with the blocking of the road was unavoidable as it was a police matter,” Ferguson explained.
“This is why I did not understand all of the outcry [about the delays on Boxing Day].
“We tried to keep the parade rolling as best as we could, but the groups that were held out of the [parade] arena; they were held because the container blocked them from getting in and that was a police issue.
“I also want to stress that the only reason those containers stayed on the western side of the parade route is because we had precipitation all day and nobody knew if the rain would come down hard.
“They [the Junkanoo groups] wanted to keep their containers as close to them as possible, to be able to return the costumes to them [the containers].
“The containers were supposed to move from the West [of George Street] and go to the East of Elizabeth Avenue. This was always the plan, but the police allowed those containers to stay there.
“We can’t help these things. We can’t control the police.”
Ferguson stressed that because of the line-up issues on Boxing Day, no containers will be placed on the Western side of George Street.
“Once they deliver their costumes, we would ask them to push all of those containers to the East side of Elizabeth Avenue on Bay Street,” Ferguson said.
Meanwhile, Ferguson said there is only a 10 per cent chance of rain forecasted for tomorrow morning so “all is clear” to proceed with the parade.
As for ticket sales, Ferguson said while sales are slow, he is looking forward to increased sales today until the parade begins tomorrow morning at 2:00 a.m.
The line-up for the New Year’s Day Junkanoo parade is as follows:
First out the gate is Roots, followed by One Family, the Prodigal Sons, Genesis, the Valley Boys, Music Makers and the Saxons Superstars.
