BOXING DAY in the BAHAMAS

By: Alejandro M

Photo by ebodie

Boxing Day in the Bahamas is celebrated on December 26th. Boxing Day is a kind of a street carnival called the Junkanoo Festival. The Junkanoo Festival occurs in the dark hours of the 26th of December. It is often celebrated by giving gifts to the poor or needy. This festival takes place on Bay Street which is Nassau’s town center.

The costumes are very colorful and very creative; some of them are made with colored papers or very colorful feathers. In this parade lots of people pass by. They are dressed in beautiful costumes dancing the typical dances, greeting people and more.

There are different stories about how the Junkanoo Festival got started. One of them is that they gave slaves 3 days off for Christmas to leave the plantations and be with their families and celebrate with music and dances. The word Junkanoo is unknown but most of the people think it comes from the African American “John Canoe” or from the French word “gensiccunus" that means ’’unknown.’’ The Junkanoo festival began in the 16 th or 17 th century. That was a very long time ago; like 500 years ago.

The Bahamas is surrounded by the Caribbean Sea. This country is formed by many islands. The beaches in this country are awesome. There are beaches and wonderful hotels waiting for people to visit. In this country they speak English but some people speak Spanish.