Victorious Valley Boys!

Victorious Valley Boys!

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The Valley Boys Junkanoo group, on the heels of celebrating its 60th anniversary of bringing cultural expression to Bay and Shirley Streets, walked away as the champions of the 2019 New Year’s Day Junkanoo parade on Tuesday morning.

Under the theme, “Thanks and Total Praise,” the Valley Boys edged out six other category-A groups for the 2019 win.

Roots were first out of the parade gate, followed by One Family, Genesis, The Valley Boys and Saxons, who rounded out the category A line-up.

Both Music Makers and the Prodigal sons were no-shows at the New Year’s Day Parade following their disqualification after the 2018 Boxing Day Parade.

The Valley Boys entered Bay Street with a crowd-pleasing performance shortly before 8:00 a.m. on  Tuesday morning.

As hundreds of its group members sashayed through Rawson Square, diehard group fans jumped to their feet and shouted with excitement.

“No one topped the Valley out here this morning. They had the energy, the music, the dancers were off the chains. They really performed this morning,” exclaimed Lisa Humes, a Valley Boys fan.

“The music brought me to my feet this morning. The pulsating drums, the horns; everything was awesome. The dancers were on point and wonderful. They brought Bay Street to life man,” said Karen Kikivarakis, another Valley Boys fan.

Roots secured a second-place finish.

The Saxons walked away with third place, One Family placed fourth and Genesis secured fifth position.

Meantime, the Colors Junkanoo group emerged victorious as the champions of the B category.

Original Congos placed second, Fancy Dancers secured third place, Redland Soldiers walked away with fourth place and Conquerors for Christ placed fifth.

The individual results for the A groups were as follows:

Choreography

1st – Valley Boys

2nd – One Family

3rd – Roots

4th – Saxons

5th – Genesis

 

Music

1st – Valley Boys

2nd – Roots

3rd – Saxons

4th – One Family

5th – Genesis

 

Shirley Street Performance

1st – Saxons

2nd – One Family

3rd – Roots

4th – Valley Boys

5th – Genesis

 

Banner

1st – Roots

2nd – Saxons

3rd – One Family

4th – Valley Boys

5th – Genesis

About Theo Sealy

Theo Sealy is an award-winning journalist who serves as senior broadcast reporter and weekend TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. He has achieved several career milestones, including his work as a field contributor with CNN, his coverage of four consecutive general elections, his production of several docuseries and his Bahamas Press Club Awards win for “Best Television News Story” in 2018.