Grand Bahama - (The Freeport News) The Swingers Junkanoo Group emerged as the unofficial winners of the 2010 Grand Bahama parade held early Saturday morning, beating out seven other groups for the number one spot in the "A" division.

The almost bitter cold weather did not stop hundreds of spectators from lining the streets of downtown Freeport on the new Junkanoo route to witness the cultural event after inclement weather delayed the parade from 6:00 p.m Friday to 1:00 Saturday morning.

The first major group, however, did not hit the streets until about 3:00 a.m.

Minister of Youth Sports and Culture Charles Maynard, who officially opened the parade, commended residents and visitors for their continued support of the country's premier cultural expression.

"I would like to thank all of the people who have understood the weather conditions that we faced earlier and have understood our reasons for a later start and are here now to enjoy our number one culture which happens every year," Maynard said, adding that

the Junkanoo groups and the Grand Bahama Junkanoo Committee (GBJC) made mature deliberations in regard to the parade.

SLIDE SHOW photos: Derek Carroll

"We want to congratulate the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), the various committees and stakeholders who worked hard to find a suitable place to host the parade."

The new Junkanoo route was introduced due to the ongoing infrastructural work of the "Downtown Turnaround" project being conducted by the GBPA. It started at the intersection of West Pioneer's Way and McKenzie Street, proceeding east to East Mall Drive, then south along East Mall Drive to Kipling Lane, and west along Kipling Lane to McKenzie Street.

The unofficial results were released late Saturday even-ing, declaring The Swingers as the overall winners in the A-Division, with 1,354 points; followed by The Superstar Rockers, with 1,208 points; Majestic Crusaders, with 1,119 points; Classic Dancers, 994 points; Bayshore War-riors, 993 points; and King-dom Culture, with 791 points. The Classic Dancers had won the annual parade for the last three years.

The Arawak Invaders and the Harbour Boys were both disqualified after failing to meet Division-A requirements.

In the Best Music Category, the unofficial results indicate that the Swingers and the Classic Dancers were tied with 350 points; The Majestic Crusaders followed with 349 points; Superstar Rockers, 333 points; Bayshore Warriors, 302 points' and Kingdom Culture with 278 points.

For Best Banner, The Swingers won with 349 points; Majestic Crusaders had 309 points; Superstar Rockers, 295 points; Kingdom Culture, 227 points; and Bayshore Warriors with 195 points.

The Swingers also earned first place again in the execution of their theme, "Salute to 50 years of the Bahamas National Trust-Protect our Heritage," with 65 points.

This was closely followed by the Majestic Crusaders, with 61 points; Superstar Rockers, 59 points; Bayshore Warriors, 45 points; Classic Dancers, 43 points; and Kingdom Culture, 38 points.

Majestic Crusaders won best group performance and best choreograph dancers with 284 and 132 points, respectively.

In the B-Division, Rotary Club International took first place with 699 points, followed by the Bushwhackers with 601, Sting 438 points and The Victory Boys with 293 points.

According to Derek King, GBJC chairman, it was decided that the parade would be put off until 1 a.m Saturday after group leaders and other stakeholders were concerned about the protection of their costumes.

"In all fairness this worked in favour of all of the groups because it give them a little more time to properly prepare," King said. "The unfortunate thing was that a lot of the spectators who were here earlier may not return for the later time."

Although some residents preferred the late morning start, others agreed that the original time of 6:00 p.m is much better.

King added that ticket sales went "well," but like always, most persons had waited until the last minute to purchase.

"Ticket sales moved along fine. We had, for the first time, tickets available on-line and we had tourists purchasing tickets from abroad for the show so this is a move in the right direction and ticket sales were still going on up until the start of the parade."

King hopes that as the community becomes more acclimated with the new route, the parade with gain more positive support.

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