The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival “can become the biggest game in town outside of Trinidad” within three to four years, its top organiser believes.

Paul Major, the Bahamas Festival Commission’s chairman, told Tribune Business that this nation’s reputation as a premier tourism destination meant it already possessed “plenty of attributes” necessary to unlock its cultural economy.

And, with less than five months to go before Junkanoo Carnival’s early May launch, Mr Major said the event had already stimulated the creativity/imagination of the artistic community.

He suggested that more original Bahamian songs had been produced in the last two months than in the previous “five to 10 years”, while the number of companies (groups) signed up to participate in May 7’s ‘Road Fever’ march were currently almost four times’ greater than organisers’ expectations.

Mr Major admitted, though, that “no timeline” had been set for when the Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival would be weaned off government (taxpayer) subsidies and become self-sustaining.

However, he pointed out that the Trinidadian government spent $70 million to promote its carnival and, while receiving no direct cash infusion in return, benefited from the increased economic activity and tax spin-offs that the event generated.

The Festival Commission chairman also admitted that organisers were behind in terms of their preparations, and needed to “ratchet things up” over the next four months to ensure the inaugural Carnival is a success.

“I’m a firm believer that we have a lot better attributes to host such an event in the Bahamas,” Mr Major told Tribune Business, comparing Junkanoo Carnival’s ‘launching platform’ to the Trinidadian version and similar events across the Caribbean.

He argued that the Bahamian tourism product and its customers, coupled with this nation’s beaches, resorts and casinos, provided a foundation that no other nation in the region could match.

“We really have everything in place to make a sucess of it,” he told this newspaper. “How successful will it be in the first year? I don’t know, but in year three or four, if we can sustain it, it can become the biggest game in town outside of Trinidad. I think we have the potential to get there.”

Some observers will likely view such forecasts as unrealistic at best, given that events such as Trinidad’s Carnival can draw on a rich history/tradition that goes back years. It has long been on the regional map, and received far more publicity internationally than the likes of the Bahamas’ Junkanoo.

Mr Major and his Commission, though, will likely point to the old adage: ‘From small acorns grow big trees’. And many would argue that efforts to unlock the economic potential of Junkanoo - and wider Bahamian culture - for the benefit of artisans and all participants are long overdue.

The Government has committed $9 milion worth of taxpayer monies to subsidise May 2015’s Carnival, and will likely have to commit further capital in future years. Mr Major confirmed no date had been set for when taxpayer underwriting of Junkanoo Carnival would end.

“There’s no timeline just now, to be quite frank with you, as we have not pulled the first one off yet,” he told Tribune Business. “Over time, we expect it to be bigger, better and more successful.

“The Trinidad government up to last year spent $70 million to promote its carnival, and it did not get any direct cash back. The upside came from the economic expenditure and spin-off taxes.”

Acknowledging that marketing was “a big piece” of the Commission’s budget, Mr Major said he expected $1.5 million to be spent on promoting Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival locally and internationally.

The USA east coast, Canadian and Latin American markets will be targeted via a promotional offensive involving all advertising mediums - radio, TV and billboards, plus social media outlets such as Facebook. The Bahamas’ various tourism offices and embassies/consular offices will be involved in co-ordinating this campaign.

Mr Major said one group had already responded to the message: The Bahamian cultural community itself.

“Already, when you consider that in two months we’ve produced 180 original Bahamian songs, we’ve probably not produced that much music in five to 10 years,” he told Tribune Business. “The interest has been so great.”

And, instead of the expected six-seven group participants, the ex-banker said some 20-25 ‘companies’ had committed to participating in the ‘Road Fever’ march on May 7.

Mr Major also explained that the Commission is deliberately attempting to create a more business-like and entrepreneurial approach in the Bahamian cultural community via Junkanoo Carnival.

Rather than simply giving the groups participating in ‘Road Fever’ money in advance, then hoping they make all necessary preparations and appear on time, Mr Major said they were being required to incorporate as companies with a proper place of business.

The Commission, he added, was “matching their seed capital”, while also mandating that they post small $5,000 performance bonds to ensure that the necessary costumes will be created for them.

“We’re really trying to create entrepreneurs from a business sense, as opposed to being part of culture, where it is not thought out in an economic sense,” Mr Major explained.

He added that Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival will also create spin-benefits for the performing arts community, while pavilions will host art exhibitions. The Family Islands will also have their own specific pavilions.

The main motivation behind creating Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival is thus to effectively ‘monetise’ this nation’s main cultural event, converting it into real economic and financoal benefits for all participants - artists, costume designers, musicians - and those in the wider cultural community.

Some, including Opposition leader Dr Hubert Minnis, have argued that the Government’s $9 million would be better invested in Junkanoo groups, and the Boxing Day and New Year’s Day parades. He also suggested that the May 3-9 event will ‘dilute’ Junkanoo culture.

Others have suggested that some in the Government are ‘over-hyping’ the inaugural event, making it seem as if it is the ‘second coming’ of Rio or Trinidad, and unnecessarily raising people’s expectations to heights that will be difficult to reach.

Mr Major said he was unaware of any concerns over ‘inflated expectations’, but acknowledged that much remained to be done to ensure Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival enjoyed a successful launch.

The Commission chairman said participation by thousands of cruise ship passengers was key, and the Government needed to deliver on promises to both market Junkanoo Carnival to them and gain the lines’ co-operation.

“We want them to be much bigger than they are now,” Mr Major said, emphasising the need to get the passengers off their ships. “We haven’t got the backing yet. The Prime Minister and Obie [Wilchcombe] promised me they’d work on that, and we’re going to want to get them off.”

Pledging that the Commission will now ramp up its preparations, Mr Major conceded: “We’re trailing. We’ve done a lot of the preliminary work. Now, leading up to the finish, we’re going to have to ratchet things up to be successful.”

Still, he reiterated to Tribune Business: “It really will be an explosion of culture if we can get it right. Time will tell.”

Speaking at a press conference for this week’s Bahamas Business Outlook conference, where he will be one of the speakers, Mr Major said: “The Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival is really attempting to bring an economic stimulus to our cultural activity in its totality, with an economic thrust as opposed to simply culture.

“We really see ourselves as trying to create a new economic perspective on culture. We hope to create that nexus between culture and economics.... There will be new opportunities for Bahamians to go out and sell as opposed to creating bragging rights.

“I’m hoping that people will have a different perspective on how culture works for us in an economic way.”

Mr Major said Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival would seek to draw on the success and experiences of events such as Rio and Trinidad, pointing out that participating musicians, organisers and revellers all had economic objectives - and achieved them. The benefits were also felt by street vendors and local hotels.