By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

WITH stakeholders and participants still reeling from the news that Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival has been delayed, festival organisers announced on Tuesday that the event will also drop its Grand Bahama events.

The Grand Bahama installment was originally set for April 21 and 22, and the pre-event included the Music Masters competition. The loss of the major event will likely be considered a setback for the island's struggling economy and high unemployment.

The Bahamas National Festival Commission (BNFC) explained that it made the "difficult decision" to postpone the event due to conflicts with the general election timetable in a press statement sent to the media, and posted to the event's Facebook account on Tuesday.

"Despite the event being only a month away," the BNFC statement read, "the Commission took the difficult decision to change the date in order to provide the highest level of participation, safety and production quality in light of a recently announced general election timetable that conflicts with the original event dates.

The statement continued: "The 2017 event will also be consolidated to one island on one weekend. The Music Masters semi-finals will take place in Nassau instead of Grand Bahama. While the Commission will miss celebrating Bahamian music, culture and vibes with the Grand Bahama community, it looks forward to resuming its two-island format in 2018 with Grand Bahama continuing to host the semi finals of the song competition.

It added: "The Commission assures the public that the event will still deliver three non-stop nights of cultural activities and performances with a top lineup of Bahamian musicians and regional artists; and revellers will still storm the streets on Saturday afternoon (May 20) for Road Fever. The Commission regrets any inconvenience caused to participants as a result of the change in date and encourages fans of Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival to prepare for a weekend of pure music, culture and vibes from Thursday to Saturday, May 18-20.