Junkanoo practice...

Junkanoo is a massive street parade that takes place on Boxing Day each year, with thousands of people taking part.The biggest parade takes place in Nassau, and groups come from all over the Bahamas to take part. In addition to the musicians, there are lots of dancers and all those taking part will be dressed up in fabulous costumes. It must be a spectacular sight...
We had been told that every Thursday night one of the groups called the Saxons held a practice in the area of Nassau called Arawak, or "The Fish Fry" so we decided to check it out. We had dinner at the Anchorage, a nice restaurant in the area then waited to see if anything would happen.
Sure enough as we wandered about we came across a large circle of goatskin drums warming in front of a bonfire. This was a long process but people were milling about, chatting and having a drink of either the local beer, Kalick or the local concoction Sky juice...(imagine gin and tonic but with coconut water instead of tonic...)
Eventually the drums were judged to have heated to the right pitch and the practice began. All of a sudden the night was filled with loud, joyful, vibrant music... it was an amazing experience to be there...
The music was constant as the procession made its way up and down a large car park and those taking part just seemed to know what to do and what to play without anyone obviously conducting the event. When you looked closely, however, there were some guys urging certain sections on and calming others, including one very tall and striking man with the longest dreadlocks I've ever soon and a long goatee beard. About 50 women were dancing at the front of the procession...
Watching the practice was one of the highlights of the trip and what we saw was just a fraction of what the real parade would have... add multiple groups and dancers and fabulous costumes and it must be absolutely fantastic!
On my wish list now... spend Christmas one year in Nassau...