By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 3, 2024 –During her interview with Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario K. Bowleg at the New Year’s Day Junkanoo Parade in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Monday evening, Shasheena Rolle-Farquharson asked a question that quite possibly has been the basis of widespread speculation among Junkanoo enthusiasts throughout The Bahamas.
Shasheena, who is the Deputy General Manager of News/Programming at ZNS Northern Service in Grand Bahama, teamed up with Karen Ferguson Bain to provide excellent live coverage of the parade, which I had the pleasure of watching from the comfort of the sofa in the living room of my apartment here in Washington, D.C., occasionally imbibing on some Dewar’s White Label Scotch.
I can’t recall verbatim the question Shasheena asked Minister Bowleg, but in essence it was related to the possibility of a group comprised of participants in the top A Groups in Grand Bahama collectively representing Grand Bahama in the Boxing Day Parade in Nassau.
Logistically, as it relates to planning and coordination, accomplishing this may seem to be impossible, but what if the money required to fund such a monumental project could be raised? Certainly, a combined group made up of performers from The Platinum Knights, The Swingers, The Superstar Rockers and The Classic Dancers would strongly challenge current groups like The Saxons Superstars, The Valley Boys, One Family and Roots that perennially are the top groups in the Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade in Nassau.
I can’t recall exactly what Minister Bowleg’s answer was, but he seemed to indicate that he would welcome such a likelihood. So would Junkanoo fans throughout The Bahamas..
Meanwhile, the judges most certainly must have had a very difficult time reaching a decision on which group won Grand Bahama’s New Year’s Day Junkanoo Parade. Although I was pulling for The Swingers, I think the judges reached the right decision in eventually concluding that five-time champion The Platinum Knights had won for the sixth time among the A Groups with a total of 3,024 points.
However, I did not think that The Platinum Knights victory was as decisive as the judges’ scores indicated. What’s more, I actually thought that The Swingers, which in my view had the best music, should have been awarded second place. Finishing in second place, however, was The Superstars Rockers, with 2,685 points; The Swingers was third, with 2,652; and The Classic Dancers was in fourth place with 2,059.
Once again, kudos to Shasheena Rolle-Farquharson and Karen Ferguson Bain for the outstanding live coverage of the parade.
