Bahamas Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Obie Wilchcombe at Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival Kickoff in Grand Bahama Island. (Photo: Tourism Today)
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The following is a statement by the Bahamas Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Obie Wilchcombe:
I join the Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry
Christie and colleague ministers in expressing our profound thanks to the
Bahamian people for their leap of faith and unshakable belief in themselves and
their ability to execute a world class show and perform on a world stage before
a global audience.
Bahamians and residents of Grand Bahama and
elsewhere came out in great numbers over the weekend in support of the country’s
inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival. The government is especially pleased and
thankful that Bahamians enjoyed themselves, proudly displaying their national
pride and sense of unity as Bahamians from all walks of life celebrated our
unique culture together and this massive event took place without incident.
Special thanks go out to the Bahamas Junkanoo
Festival Committee, Carnival’s premier sponsor BTC, all other sponsors, the
Grand Bahama-based organizers, especially Ginger Moxey and Jimmy Smith for
their leadership; the Royal Bahamas police Force and the many cultural
artisans, musicians, songwriters and dancers who contributed to the success of what
was arguably the single largest event to take place on the island of Grand
Bahama.
The Cultural Community has been lobbying for
public private sector partnership and collaboration to take our Bahamian
culture to a new level – linking this cultural phenomenon to our economy and diversifying
our tourism product by embellishing the visitor experience. The pervasive and
far reaching economic impact of Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival cannot be understated
as companies in industries as diverse as tourism, communications, transportation
and events promotions to costume design, printers, artisans and even food
vendors are all being positively impacted. This festival has the capacity to
catapult the culture industry into a year-round industry and is only limited by
the imagination and entrepreneurial spirit of Bahamians and for those who dare
to dream, dream big and think “outside of the box” for the sky is the limit.
Bahamas Junkanoo carnival is everybody’s business and it beckons us to heed the
call of the late Tyrone “Dr. Off” Fitzgerald to “GET INVOLVED”
The government and the private sector came
together; we listened and with all hands on deck, the Bahamas can now boast of
its own carnival festival. We are confident that this cultural institution is
not only an economic stimulus, but will grow from strength to strength in years
to come as it evolves into an important platform to give birth to the next Paul
Mears, Tony Seymour, The Beginning of The End, Smokey OO7, T-Connection and
Bahamen.
And so our message as the government is a very
simple one: Bahamians believed and did it; come together, let’s continue to make
it happen, jump in lineand let us all get involved.