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Junkanoo Boxing Day Parade 2018

Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune staff

By Morgan Adderley

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

ONE Family sashayed its way to victory as the group was declared the unofficial winner of the 2018 Junkanoo Boxing Day parade last night. The group wowed the judges and crowd with its theme “Nursery Rhymes: The Ones We’ll Always Remember,” scoring a total of 87.55 points.

In the unofficial results, the Valley Boys came second with 85.61 points, Roots third with 85.46, Genesis fourth with 83.07, and Saxons finished fifth with 82.81 points. Music Makers and Prodigal Sons were both disqualified.

In the B group category, Colours was declared the unofficial winner with a total of 78.91 points. Original Congos placed second with 76.39 points, Body of Christ came in third with 68.00 and Fancy Dancers rounded off the top four with 67.77 points.

One Family also won several other major categories, including best costume, with 88.56 points; best choreography, best Shirley Street and best off-the-shoulder. It was the group’s first victory since the 2016 Boxing Day parade.

Valley Boys placed second in the overall costume category with 83.25 points, Genesis third with 82.06 points, Saxons 81.88 points and Roots placing fifth in the overall costume category with 79.94 points.

One Family was the last A group to perform during the 2018 Boxing Day parade, making its way down Bay Street well into the morning, in a parade marked by significant delays.

Music Makers was the first A group out of the gate, followed by Saxons. Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis again rushed with Saxons, shaking his cowbells down Bay Street alongside his grandson.

However, between third A group Genesis and Valley Boys, there was a delay of more than 90 minutes, during which a series of B and C groups rushed. Valley Boys alleged on its Facebook page that this delay was due to Genesis blocking its entryway. “Da Valley has been waiting to enter the parade, but GENESIS has the entryway BLOCKED and no one can pass!!” the post, which was uploaded during the parade, claimed. In the comments under the post, some Valley fans called for Genesis to be disqualified over this. One Family did not rush until well after 8am, but was deemed well worth the wait.

A number of Cabinet ministers were present at the parade, including Deputy Prime Minister K Peter Turnquest, who emphatically stated that he was rooting for the Valley Boys, “all the way.” When asked if he was excited to see Dr Minnis rush with the Saxons, Mr Turnquest answered diplomatically. “We’re excited for Junkanoo,” he laughed. “This is a tremendous cultural expression, world-recognised. Certainly it is an exciting production. We’re very excited for all of the groups that come out and put their all on Rawson Square, Bay Street.”

Also present was United States Congresswoman Maxine Waters who told reporters she is a veteran Junkanoo attendee, explaining that her husband, Sid Williams, was an ambassador to The Bahamas during the Clinton administration. “And so we’ve been coming here for many years and certainly we love Junkanoo,” she said. “So we try to get here every year. I think we’ve only missed two years in the last 10 or 15 years.”

• This story has been updated – the original version incorrectly stated that One Family's first Junkanoo victory was 2014.