Rush,Rush

(pictured Junkanoo, New Year's Eve 2007)

Junkanoo is a celebration/carnival/extravaganza held in the Bahamas, Miami & other parts of the West Indies during the christmas holiday season. On Boxing Day and New Year's Day the most highly anticipated showcase of this festival occurs in New Providence,Bahamas. The elements of Junkanoo are similar to other pre-Lent celebrations such as carnival ( Trindad & Brazil ) as well as Mardi Gras ( New Orleans ) yet there are many distinctions. Personally, I believe that creating the works ( costumes, et al ) for Junkanoo are less evasive and more creative because the materials used. The good and bad thing about Junkanoo is that because the costumes are made from paper ( 90% paper goods ) they are DELICATE and if it rains they push back the starting time from 1:00am to whenever it stops raining. In 2007, me, my husband, my parents sat on Bay St, waiting for the parade to start which began at around 3:30am...
The musical element of Junkanoo I consider very "New World". The use of goat-skin drums, blowing conch shells, brass "marching band" instruments and rushing  is something that relates it to New Orleans' second line. Everybody loves to rush the band, and the cops are forever yelling at folks. One year at Junkanoo my cousin, who is a founder of One Family, saw me in the crowd, motioned me to come out and this cop says to me when he saw me move ( i was already out there anyway) " You betta not rush "

Read more about Junkanoo here.