The traditional national Junkanoo parades may have been canceled this year due to COVID-19 and until it is safe, but KFC Nassau is ensuring that Junkanoo artists are engaged in this festive season with the announcement of their Junkanoo Buckets competition which will allow Junkanoo fanatics to get their creative juices flowing for the chance to win a part of $30,000 in cash and prizes.
KFC Nassau is challenging Junkanoo aficionados to create their most elaborate, original Junkanoo headpiece incorporating the iconic KFC bucket and visibly undecorated fringed crepe paper in the construction.
Participants are then to upload a photo of the finished headpiece to junkanoobuckets.kfcnassau.com, complete the entry form, share on their social media pages using the hashtag #JunkanooBuckets and ask their friends to go to the contest site to vote for their design. The headpiece with the most likes will win.
The use of an actual KFC chicken bucket which is mandatory in the construction of each headpiece, makes the competition unique.
“We know how disappointing the cancellation of the upcoming Boxing Day and New Year’s Day Junkanoo parades is for everyone who loves this essential part of our Bahamian culture, so we have found a way for the show to go on in a most unique way,” said Will Grant, general manager Restaurants Bahamas, operators of KFC Nassau.
“While the KFC bucket doesn’t have to be visible on the outside decoration in order to qualify, we at KFC Nassau would of course be thrilled to see someone design a headpiece with our brand front and center,” he said.
In order to maintain the integrity of Junkanoo design, all headpieces must also include visibly undecorated fringed crepe paper. Artists are also allowed to utilize all the customary tricks and embellishments in their overall design.
The unique competition has the support of the National Junkanoo Committee.
“The beauty of this exciting competition that celebrates Junkanoo is that nothing like this has ever been done before. It is also so wonderful to have an initiative that involves the entire Bahamas, so kudos to KFC for bringing this to fruition,” said Kishlane Smith, co-chair of the National Junkanoo Committee.
Recognizing that the group rivalry is an essential part of the Junkanoo experience, KFC Nassau invites each entrant to identify which Junkanoo group they belong to or support. The Junkanoo group with the most entries claiming an affiliation, will also win a substantial cash prize.
Similar to the “A” and “B” divisions in the New Providence Junkanoo parades, KFC Nassau has created two divisions to give all groups, regardless of size, a chance to win. For the KFC Nassau Junkanoo Buckets competition, Group 1 will have 350 or more members and Group 2 will have 349 members or less and the winning groups can represent any Bahamian island or settlement.
The winning individual headpiece will receive $5,000. Second place will take home $3,000 and the designer of the head piece with the third largest number of votes will win $1,500.
The winning Junkanoo Group 1 group will receive $12,000 and the top Group 2 group will win $8,000.
“We can’t wait to see how creative everyone gets with their KFC Junkanoo Buckets headpiece designs,” said Grant. “This pandemic may have put a stop to Junkanoo parades this season, but it can’t stop the creativity or passion for Junkanoo and celebration of this uniquely Bahamian pastime.”
Entry deadline is 11:59 p.m. on January 4, 2021 and voting will be closed at 11:59 p.m. on January 8, 2021. KFC Nassau will announce the winners of the individual and group prizes on January 11, 2021. For the complete rules and to enter the KFC Junkanoo Buckets competition, visit JunkanooBuckets.KFCNassau.com.
While Quentin “Barabbas” Woodside, Junkanoo World and Museum proprietor, has no plans to enter the competition due to a “full plate” he says the KFC Nassau competition is a great idea.
“It gets the people of that zone they’re in that’s depressing,” said Woodside. “It gets you geared up to doing something this kind of time. On top of that, any prize funds can help people at this time.”
The New Providence Boxing Day and New Year’s Day Junkanoo parades, and all parades normally hosted on the Family Islands were postponed until it is safe for group gatherings by the government on the advice of the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), by memorandum dated October 9, citing that Junkanoo preparation and parades are “super spreader events” and that the EOC could “neither support nor endorse” the hosting of Junkanoo events as the environment is neither safe nor conducive for the preparation or hosting of the annual Junkanoo parades. The decision to postpone the parades was made out of an abundance of caution.
The Bahamas has 7,549 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, December 2. There have been 163 deaths.
According to a Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture press release, substantial efforts were made to consider viable alternatives for the hosting of the Junkanoo parades in alternative forms including a virtual platform that would have required smaller numbers, but those were scrapped.
It said while the decision was a difficult one, the government of The Bahamas has an overriding responsibility to ensure the health and safety of the people of The Bahamas. Based on the emergency powers orders, the resumption of parades will be subject to the guidance of the Ministry of Health.
The Junkanoo parade is the premiere cultural program and most supported national event in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. It provides for the ongoing celebration of the liberties the Bahamian people enjoy, the raw expression of their talents in music, song, the arts and dance; and is the most spirited event that unites Bahamians of all demographics, social class and backgrounds. The parades have served as a hallmark of Bahamian culture and Christmas holiday tradition for decades.
Woodside, 58, who is also the leader of Barabbas and The Tribe Junkanoo group, also says while he understands the decision to cancel the Junkanoo parades due to the pandemic, he’s still disappointed, because the cancellations come in a year when he had made a decision for the group to return to Bay Street this year, as a “B” group, after a few years’ hiatus.
He also noted that it was the first time that he could recall in his many decades participating in Junkanoo that parades have been canceled and not just postponed.
The post The show must go on: KFC Nassau engages Junkanoo afficionados in a cultural competition – with a twist appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/the-show-must-go-on-kfc-nassau-engages-junkanoo-afficionados-in-a-cultural-competition-with-a-twist/
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