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Last Updated: Mar 15, 2018 - 9:23:42 PM |
Slide show: Photo: Reno Curling
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Nassau, Bahamas - Domestic tourism got a much-needed boost this weekend with the 14th anniversary of the Bahamian Music & Heritage Festival (BMHF) held in George Town, Exuma.
Senior Manager of the Exuma Tourist Office Emmet Saunders said the festival positively impacted Exuma’s economy.
“It's impactful in any number of ways, one, economically in short term and long term through creation of vitality and the economies expanded through spend over the course of the three days and long-term events such as this create awareness for the island of Exuma and we hope that it so binds the visitors’ experience that they return home and tell their friends about the event. Besides the economic impact, there are social implications. It creates community solidarity in a great way and it's a sense of community pride to us who were born and who live, work and reside here in the Exumas,” Saunders remarked.
Photo: Reno Curling
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The festival held under the theme, “Celebrating The Islands Of The Bahamas” showcased the best of Exuma including food, music and culture. During the day, the park became a Bahamian culture playground with artifact demonstrations, dance lessons and cooking lessons.
At night, the park came alive with a gospel night featuring many artists from Exuma, and two days of electrifying Bahamian talent with musicians from Exuma stealing the spotlight.
Locals and visitors alike could be seen “skullin” and “mashing the roach” to the sounds of down home Bahamian music while nibbling on tasty Bahamian cuisine.
Photo: Reno Curling
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Long-time visitor, Sharon Doyle from Delaware, said she and her husband are in The Bahamas from December to May and they love the heritage festival.
“What's there not to love? Beautiful blue waters, tropical breezes and beautiful people in The Bahamas. We haven't been anywhere, from Grand Bahama all the way down to the Ragged Islands, where the Bahamians haven’t been wonderful to us, I feel like we're family. We love the music heritage festival, we've been coming to the festival every year, we actually came up from Ragged Island on our boat just so we could be here for the music festival,” Doyle said.
Coco Grass Wissen from Ojai, California said it was her first time at the festival and it’s been a good time.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in The Bahamas, second time in George Town and first time at the festival and we've been wanting to come to this festival for a lot of years and this is the first time it's worked out. The people, the beauty, I kind of almost feel like it's my second home - I love this place. It's really good, you're doing a good job, it has a great vibe, it has great people and it's proven to be a good time,” she said.
On the success of the event, Charity Armbrister, Director of Events, said everybody had a great time.
“The vendors were crowded, the entertainment was going, the kids came out from the various schools, there were storytelling, games; they saw all of the old-time artifacts. The first night, the gospel concert really set the tone for the three nights and so everybody came out and had a great time, there were a lot of visitors and we sometimes hear people say there's nothing to do, well, these kinds of events provide something for our visitors to do in addition to that which is really important,” she said.
When visitors weren’t immersing themselves in Bahamian culture at the festival, they were seen exploring every nook and cranny of the island, especially enjoying the variety of Exuma’s beaches and taking advantage of the seclusion that the island offers.
© Copyright 2018 by thebahamasweekly.com
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