"JUNKANOO" AT BAHA MAR!

A beautiful “Valley Boys” Junkanoo piece featured at the Baha Mar Resort this past Sunday. It’s absolutely amazing how many talented artists from all backgrounds in The Bahamas create these pieces.

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THE EDUCULTURE JUNKANOO MUSEUM IN NASSAU, BAHAMAS

The Educulture Junkanoo Museum is a fun place in Nassau for tourists or Bahamian residents to visit! We only caught a glimpse of it on West Street as we were driving by, but it looks very appealing.

I feature a Junkanoo character in my short story collection “Moonbeams from The Soul: A Collection of Fourteen Provocative Short Stories”, and also touch on Junkanoo in my novel “Dangerous Devotion” (The Buchanan Mystery Romance Series Book 1). 

EDUCULTURE JUNKANOO MUSEUM

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JUNKANOO THEN AND NOW!

The aftermath of a past Junkanoo 

in downtown Nassau, Bahamas

Sadly, our popular Junkanoo festival here in The Bahamas has been cancelled again this year. The New Year's Day holiday, which will be observed on Monday, January 3rd, won't ring with the excitement of New Year's Day 1966 and successive New Year's Days because of Covid-19. 

Fifty-six years' ago, I rode side saddle on the back of Erskine's scooter "Over The Hill" after a party that he and his band "The Invaders" had played at on West Bay Street. Discarded Junkanoo floats and costumes were strewn all over the streets. We went from night club to night club until the wee hours. I wore a long white evening gown, but by the time the sun rose my dress was no longer white!

In my novel "Dangerous Devotion" (described by Juanita Coulson, "The Lady" Books Editor, as "A moving tale of family dynamics and relationships in later life"), Gordon and Violet experience the Christmas season in Nassau, but because Gordon is Scottish, they fly back to Scotland for Hogmanay.

Excerpt from "Dangerous Devotion":

"Bell ringers stood at strategic points on downtown Bay Street, collecting money for charity in Salvation Army kettles. The street was decked out with festive decorations. A heavily laden Christmas tree towered next to the colonial buildings in historic Rawson Square. Bleachers for the upcoming Boxing Day and New Year’s Junkanoo parades were already in place."

"Dangerous Devotion" is available on Amazon as an e-book at $2.99 and in paperback $13.99. Click the link below to go the book's Amazon page:-

DANGEROUS DEVOTION

Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy 2022!

 

 

PAST & PRESENT NEW YEAR'S DAYS IN NASSAU, BAHAMAS!

The aftermath of a past Junkanoo in downtown Nassau, Bahamas

 

New Year's Day in The Bahamas this year doesn't ring with the excitement of New Year's Day 1966 and successive New Year's Days because of Covid-19. Sadly the popular Junkanoo festivals here in The Bahamas have been cancelled this time. 

Fifty-five years' ago, I rode on the back of Erskine's scooter "Over The Hill" after a party that he and his band "The Invaders" had played at on West Bay Street. Discarded Junkanoo floats and costumes were strewn all over the streets. We went from night club to night club until the wee hours. I wore a long white evening gown, but by the time the sun rose my dress was no longer white!

In my novel "Dangerous Devotion", Gordon and Violet experience the Christmas season in Nassau, but because Gordon is Scottish, they fly back to Scotland for Hogmanay (Scottish New Year).

Excerpt from "Dangerous Devotion":

"Bell ringers stood at strategic points on downtown Bay Street, collecting money for charity in Salvation Army kettles. The street was decked out with festive decorations. A heavily laden Christmas tree towered next to the colonial buildings in historic Rawson Square. Bleachers for the upcoming Boxing Day and New Year’s Junkanoo parades were already in place."

"Dangerous Devotion" is available on Amazon as an e-book at $2.99 and in paperback $10.12. Click the links below to go the book's Amazon page.

Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year!

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CHRISTMAS DONE COMIN'

CHRISTMAS DONE COMIN'

by Fay Knowles

Christmas done comin'
Junkanooers in da shacks
Please give a dollar for
Salvation Army good acts

If you ain't gat a dollar
A quarter will do
If you ain't gat a quarter
Then God bless you!

(Just a little ditty I once wrote! Salvation Army members and supporters are out and about in Nassau collecting money in their kettles to help the poor. And Junkanoo groups are in the shacks feverishly creating stunning costumes and floats for the Christmas and New Year Junkanoo parades!)

WELCOMING NEW YEAR IN NASSAU BAHAMAS!

PART OF A DISCARDED JUNKANOO FLOAT
IN DOWNTOWN NASSAU NEW YEAR 2018

Last night we brought the New Year in by watching Baha Mar’s spectacular fireworks display from our window. Then after lunch today Erskine and I headed over to Atlantis on Paradise Island. The streets were still being cleaned up after “Junkanoo” that started early this morning. A few discarded remnants of Junkanoo floats and costumes lay on the pavements.

“Junkanoo” is a vibrant pulsating street festival and competition that usually takes place in The Bahamas in the early hours of Boxing Day (December 26th) and New Year’s Day. The roots of Junkanoo can be traced back to West Africa. It is said that the name originated from that of “John Canoe”, an African tribal chief.

Groups of participants spend months prior to Junkanoo in the “shacks” making elaborate costumes and floats out of crepe paper, cardboard, beads, sequins and other innovative materials. Tourists and residents alike huddle on bleachers or hang over balconies on Bay Street in downtown Nassau to watch the floats and performers pass by. Spectators revel in the sound of rhythmic cow bells, whistles, goat skin or steel drums and horns; the kaleidoscopic costumes; and the enthralling dancing called “rushing”. Other islands of The Bahamas also have their own Junkanoo rushes.

We parked in the pay parking opposite the Riu Paradise Hotel and walked through Atlantis to Marina Village for a coffee in Starbucks. The weather was sunny and the temperature about 78 degrees. A perfect New Year’s Day!

Wishing you all a very Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year!

CHRISTMAS DAY ISLAND STYLE IN BYGONE YEARS!

Erskine as a little boy growing up on Long Island
(with his mother and five of his sisters)

When my husband Erskine hears Jay Mitchell singing the Christmas hymn, “Christians Awake, Salute the Happy Morn” on the radio, he says the hymn always reminds him of Christmas morning as a boy.

When he was a child growing up on Long Island in the Southern Bahamas, the children would wake up early on Christmas Day while it was still dark. They had no watches or clocks on the island in those days and told time by the sun, moon and stars.

Erskine, along with his siblings and friends, would first make their way to his Auntie Mary’s house on McKenzie Hill, which was the starting point for their Christmas morning house to house visits. They were all decked out in Junkanoo masks. The masks were made by the children out of cardboard and string, and painted with berries from the cactus tree (called “prickle pear” by the islanders).

Down the hill, Cousin Edward would be in his yard, singing “Christians Awake, Salute the Happy Morn”!

The children let off fire crackers as they went around the homes. They also carried paper bags. The bags were for their neighbours to deposit candy, cake, tangerines, oranges, “benny” cake (made from sugar and sesame seeds), coconut cake, coconut tart, and pound cake. This was usually all the children received for Christmas, but they were quite happy with whatever they were given. It was a simple but contented life.

As Christmas Day comes to a close here in The Bahamas, I hope everyone reading this has had a wonderful, peaceful day and I would just like to say, "A Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

CHRISTMAS DONE COMIN' - HELP SALVATION ARMY HELP OTHERS!

CHRISTMAS DONE COMIN'

by Fay Knowles

Christmas done comin'
Junkanooers in da shacks
Please give a dollar for
Salvation Army good acts

If you ain't gat a dollar
A quarter will do
If you ain't gat a quarter
Then God bless you!