Weather fears for carnival

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

ORGANISERS fear that bad weather might negatively affect the inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival when it is launched in three days in New Providence.

Paul Major, the Bahamas National Festival Commission (BNFC) Chairman, told The Tribune yesterday that organisers are “praying and keeping (their) fingers crossed” that the weather lets up before the start of Carnival Thursday evening.

Mr Major was speaking after a week of rainy and stormy weather in the capital and, according to the Weather Channel’s forecast, New Providence will experience thunderstorms, or isolated thunderstorms at least, from today until Sunday. Weather officials predict an 80 per cent chance of rain on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, when the festival is on.

When asked if the weather was a concern for the commission in the lead up to the weekend’s events, Mr Major said: “Not if it holds up. We’re just praying and keeping our fingers crossed.”

At a press conference at the Antonius Roberts Studio and Gallery in Cumberland Street yesterday, Mr Major and veteran Bahamian artist Antonius Roberts, announced that the festival will feature a Visual Arts Pavilion, which will showcase 300 artistic pieces – mostly paintings – by 30 local artists from throughout the country in a tent in Da Cultural Village.

Allan Wallace, a local artist, also will be in the tent painting a mural live as the festivities commence.

However, when questioned if the weather would be conducive to the festivities, and the Visual Arts Pavilion in particular, Mr Major said: “They’re going to be in a covered pavilion, but its more than just that. It’s the whole event, including the parade that we need to be concerned with. So weather is definitely a concern for us and we just hope this weather goes away by then.”

Nonetheless, he and Mr Roberts remained optimistic about the pavilion, which will “provide persons with an opportunity to step out of their excitement, all of the music and the dance, and step into this quiet space where they can contemplate and really appreciate the paintings”.

“We have a vibrant art community and a very tight knit art community,” Mr Roberts said. “We have the National Art Gallery, we have various galleries, but we don’t have significant amount of places where younger artists or emerging artists would have an opportunity to expose their works.

“The art pavilion is not just a physical space that exists in the Cultural Village. The art pavilion lives in cyber space. It is becoming a community. It is a place where we are hopeful that not only artists from the Bahamas but anywhere in the world can actually connect to this Visual Arts Pavilion and be inspired or encouraged to be a part of that community.

“This was a part of the Prime Minister’s original vision, that this wasn’t just about the traditional Carnival, which people associate with rebels, drinking and dancing on the streets. This is to encompass every facet of culture in the Bahamas,” Mr Major added. “And the visual arts is certainly a big part of that.”

According to Mr Roberts, only three of the 30 artists that submitted work will be selected as winners. However, he said every piece that was submitted would be on display in the pavilion.

The three winners were originally set to receive $1,500 each. However, Mr Major yesterday announced that he would match that amount, raising the amount to $3,000 per winner.

The Christie administration proposed to spend $9m on the Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival. However, government officials have said the event is way under budget.

Mr Christie has said that the government expects to generate $30m for the Bahamas’ economy from Carnival.

Last month, Mr Major told The Tribune that an estimated 30,000 people attended Junkanoo Carnival’s inaugural kick off in Grand Bahama. According to a subsequent BNFC report, the event in Freeport had a total economic impact of $5.2m, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) impact of just over $20m.

Mr Major said based on the success of the Carnival event in Freeport, he believed the festivities in New Providence will be “fantastic.” He said that there was “no question” that the event would draw up to 40,000 to 50,000 people in Nassau from May 7 to 9.

In an interview with Tribune Business, he said the festival would exceed Mr Christie’s initial projections of a $30m impact on GDP.

Comments

duppyVAT says...

Rain will just add a real Bahamian twist to it ................. rain and wine, wet and wild

Posted 5 May 2015, 1:34 p.m. Suggest removal

ThisIsOurs says...

Bahamian twist..lol

Posted 5 May 2015, 3:33 p.m. Suggest removal

thomas says...

LET IT RAIN!!!

Posted 5 May 2015, 1:38 p.m. Suggest removal

TalRussell says...

Is there a trusting Comrade left willing to listen to the latest Carnival 2015 excuse about how Carnival is now expressing concerns over the prospects of bad weather affecting the attendance of the world’s CROWDS by the many thousands and the much promised millions tourists dollars expected be flowing into the empty cash registers at the local merchants.
Really, cuz by now I am sure Comrades Paul, Danny and Obadiah would welcome no greater nemesis than bad weather to blame on, how 9. 5 million taxpayers monies is being flushed straight down the drains. Lord almighty, now they want the natives to believe that up until just the past couple days that all year long, there wasn't any weather reports they could have taken some that 9.5 million to subscribe to?
I've been the lone soldier talking about Carnival 2015's specially designed "out houses" potty toilets for months but everyone thought i was making it up?

Posted 5 May 2015, 3:31 p.m. Suggest removal

Looking for positives..we could turn it into a powder and **free** water fete...just sayin....

Posted 5 May 2015, 3:34 p.m. Suggest removal

Well_mudda_take_sic says...

I can think of no one more deserving of having it rain heavily on their parade than Perry "Vomit" Christie! Hopefully a well guided bolt of lightning from heaven during the Carnival will hit its mark and save our country from any further scandals!!

Posted 5 May 2015, 4:50 p.m. Suggest removal

Comrades there are opinions and there are words meant to demean the PM or any other politician. Undoubtedly, we all feel differently but it's no longer just expressing your opinion when you make it personal. It is wrong to wish harm to be caused upon any other human being. Regardless, he is our nation's PM and we must respect the office.

Posted 5 May 2015, 5:23 p.m. Suggest removal

Just one of many posts online about Baha Mar.
“Accepted reservation in January 2015 for June 2015 - then cancelled”
I booked two nights at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar for June 2015 back in January. At that time, the opening date for the hotel was advertised for March, so I figured that there wouldn't be any problems for a June reservation. Well, I was wrong. I received an email from Hyatt this morning saying that they wouldn't be able to honor the reservation because the hotel wouldn't be open in time. I was given the option to reschedule with Hyatt paying for my flight change fees, stay at Atlantis (although apparently there weren't any rooms available the weekend I was originally scheduled to go), or cancel altogether with my flights reimbursed and 20K Hyatt points per night as compensation. I ended up cancelling, but I still don't understand why they would accept reservations if they knew they wouldn't be able to honor them. I have to say that if I decide to go on vacation to the Bahamas, the Grand Hyatt is definitely not one of the places I'll be looking at. If they can't get a hotel to open on time, I have my doubts about their ability to actually run the place.

Posted 5 May 2015, 9:37 p.m. Suggest removal

The_Oracle says...

Tal, respect for the "office" starts with the holder of the office.
Where else will public respect for that office come from?
Respect must be earned, it is not a given.
How can one be expected to hold oneself to the rules if there are no examples to go by?
From the child being taught and abiding household rules of conduct to the public official,
Absent in almost all cases.
where are the decent conventions of a lawful society?
Without them you have abandoned any hope of reversing our trend of 40 years.

Posted 6 May 2015, 10:20 a.m. Suggest removal

Comrade The_Oracle, then you must never again complain how nothing ever gets done for the people cuz it will always be politics from one day to another, or as in case the PLP and FNM, it's been much about politics from day one right after the 2012 General Elections votes were counted. Yes, even when a PM and his cabinet colleagues are deemed not to be demonstrating respect towards the people, we must respect the offices of the very people that we so dislike their ways - and if we don't - our Bahamaland and Her people will be the worse for it.

Posted 6 May 2015, 10:54 a.m. Suggest removal

John says...

Well the good news is that the National Hurricaine Center in Florida cancelled its flights by aircraft to investigate the system as it is not "organized ". But they still think it will develop and become a named stor and move towards the Carolinas.The bad news is that it is stationary so will remain the area for some time yet.so will the weather clear up in time.

Posted 6 May 2015, 10:28 a.m. Suggest removal

We can still hope for "a bolt out of the blue" as they say!

Posted 6 May 2015, 11:38 a.m. Suggest removal

Did yall hear the carnival route????????? Just let them go and dive in the harbour after they wine down Burma Road!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted 6 May 2015, 1:26 p.m. Suggest removal