Photo © 2009 Lyndah Wells
By Nathaniel Lewis, The Freeport News
Freeport, Bahamas - The final night of Junkanoo Summer Festival took place on July 29th of what was said to be the best night yet. The annual favourite for locals and tourists keeps getting bigger and better since moving to the idyllic location of Taino Beach in Grand Bahama Island.
Over the four week event patrons of the Festival enjoyed a nature trail; bush tea tasting; excursions out to the Ghost ship which was featured in the German production of The Sea Wolf (Der Seewolf); live entertainment in the way of Junkanoo rushoout, marching bands, the Bahamian sounds of KB, Stileeto, Ancient Man, Terez Hepburn and many others; Bahamian folk dancing; and the best tasting Bahamian food.
To quote The Freeport News , General Manager of Business Development at the Ministry of Tourism on Grand Bahama, Betty Bethel said,
"The response was excellent. The move to Taino Beach made for a much better experience, not just for the visitors but also the local residents that attended.
"The response has been awesome and every year we try to make the event even better than the year before," said Bethel.
"Our Nature trail takes place out on the Taino Beach Park. They are taken on tour by our People-to-Peole volunteers."
"They are able to get an appreciation for the type of foliage that grows here in The Bahamas and the various uses of some of the foliage."
"They are shown the five-fingers and the fever grass and in the end they are told what some of the medicinal purposes of those herbs are and they also get to sample some of the bush tea drinks at the end of the tour" she said.
The Ministry of Tourism is holding the event over the weekend with Jazz Music Night on Friday, July 30th hosted by Cool 96 FM DJ Paul 'CWM' Francis (Crazy White Man) and the park and vendors will again be open for visitors on holiday Monday, August 2nd for the finale day of Junkanoo Summer Festival.
Visit Thebahamasweekly.com to see photos by Natalia Gonzales
