Junkanoo can evolve, the same money and promotion that is being pushed to carnival, is the same that can be pushed for Junkanoo. You have to ask the masterminds behind this carnival movement why they chose to use carnival instead of Junkanoo. They apparently like people tings better than their own

JUNKANOO: after all the years it still holds mystery. Two problems basically. Because the preparation and production of Junkanoo has not been allowed to enter the 21 sat century, it still remains very labor intensive and still very costly. Spending $18 million on parades that lasts only a few hours is insane. Modern methods can be incorporated to reduce the man hours put into Junkanoo and hence the cost. Secondly, at one time there used to be large numbers of tourists at the parades. Today the tourist numbers are scarce, to say the least. is this either because tourists do not want to pay to attend the event, or because of the crime element and violence at the parades they have been advised to stay away from the event. Persons may argue that you cannot put a price on culture but at least you can make the parades more effective, by increasing the number of paying spectators attending the event and/or reducing the cost of production.

I would like to know how she came up with a dollar amount for the time spent in preparing for junkanoo when it for the most part is done out of a love for the parade and the competition.

Just take a random sample and ask people *can I see your costume, how long did it take you to complete*...just guessing. Most people can tell how long it took them to complete last year some can tell you "shack" stories for a couple years

Comrades not only is this report a sad reflection on the ministry of tourism but don't be thinking that $18 million is much contributed to, if anything much, by whomever happens be the government of the day. Typical bureaucrats, create something new in the millions while ignoring what we all know is well received and enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. Who knows may be more difficult pay under and over tables monies with Junkanoo - gives damn good excuse for spending millions creating just another inefficient level government bureaucracy. I guess it's only after the People's Public Treasure checks start bouncing will the bull sh@% cease. And, that ain't far around da corner.

Junkanoo reflects every other aspect of our country. We fly to South Florida to support American sports and lotteries; we buy Jordan shoes and Lebron jerseys.We go to Mardi Gras, Carnival and Rio for Olympics. BUT GIVE NO SUPPORT TO OUR LOCAL SPORTS AND CULTURE. ........... and VAT and Gambling cant solve that. Its a mindset. In the meantime, we think only of having a good time while private sector and civil service suffer for non-productivity.

you are absolutely correct. i see so few of my peer group there.

i support junkanoo every year and am always disappointed by the lack of tourists that i see there. one reason could be, however, because all of the tickets are purchased by the time they arrive on island and actually hear about it (due to our govt's/tourism lack of global promotion of the event). so really, the only tourists i see are in the sunrise hours when bahamians have vacated their seats. and think about the reverse - if we heavily promoted it and tourists were buying up tickets far in advance, then bahamians would be left to stand on shirley street and there would be an outcry that junkanoo was only for tourists! i think it's a no-win situation. and who wants to stand on shirley street with all the rock and knife fights that occur every half hour. not I! done it, won't do it again.

When a person spends $1,000 on materials and takes 2 weeks to build an off the shoulder piece to parade on Bay Street............. what is its monetary value ???????????

I say it's priceless, can you imagine a Christmas with no Junkanoo?

Junkanoo is not what it used to be, however instead of a natural progression we have destroyed it politically, culturally, and one could fall asleep with the gaps in the music/beat.
It used to be continuous non stop, akin to being possessed for hours.
Add to the above the dangerous element, nasty rank smell,
It isn't something you could seriously present to tourists as Festive and happy.
So instead we will attempt to Create a "cultural event" from scratch.
Good luck with that.
More money train for the bleacher and fencing connections.

Oh yeah Comrade we create something new and wait for stench set-in? What if we cleanup what we have and enjoy, before dropping it move on?