By GENEA NOEL

Freeport News Reporter

genea@nasguard.com

Following the success of last year's Summer Junkanoo Festival, Ministry of Tourism officials are gearing up for another dynamic cultural experience for the entire family to enjoy.

The festival will be held every Thursday at Taino Beach from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. beginning on July 10, and will run until August 8.

Betty Bethel, general manager for business development, announced the activities for the five-week event during a press conference yesterday.

Although down-sized "a bit" due to the economic recession, Bethel said the festival will offer some of the same attractions and will even include new and exciting elements for visitors and residents.

On Friday, July 10, the festival will open as an official Independence Day celebration event, featuring performances by the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) pop and marching bands.

The activities will continue as regularly scheduled on Thursdays for three weeks on July 16, 23, 30, and the grand finale will be on Saturday, August 8, on the eve of Miss Universe Pageant Swimsuit Presentation that will be held in Grand Bahama.

Bethel said the theme at the finale will be all about beauty and elegance, featuring a parade of past and current Grand Bahamian beauty queens.

"Each week the festival will display the traditional colourful elements of cuisine, art and craft, nature trails, music and our greatest cultural expression: Junkanoo," Bethel said.

She added that local artists will also perform weekly, including: The Grand Bahama Youth Choir, Fritz Soloman, Matrix, Stileet and Ultra Vibe, just to name a few.

"We are trying to stay as local as possible," Bethel said. "In the past years we have always brought in artists from Nassau and the other islands, but because of the economic environment, we wanted to distribute those funds to our local entertainers."

This year, the Summer Junkanoo festival will offer a Film Tour, showcasing Grand Bahama as the film capital of The Bahamas.

Bethel said the tour will be introduced during the festival and would eventually add to the island's tour options for visitors.

She explained that The Junkanoo Beach Club located on Taino Beach, will be the area where visitors will be greeted by Captain "Blahh," then continue on with the tour by film expert Donna Mackey.

At the end of that tour, Bethel said visitors will have an opportunity to go out on a vessel used in one of the movies filmed in Grand Bahama to explore and watch dolphins do tricks.

Another new element for the festival this year will be an on-site Junkanoo Museum, where visitors can view Junkanoo costumes and even make a small costume to participate in the "Rush Out."

Like last year, the festival will include The Junkakids Corner to provide children who attend an opportunity to interact with each other and learn how to paste costumes and play heritage games.

Visitors and natives will also be able to participate in "Bush Tea" tasting, followed by a tour of the nature trail situated at Taino Beach. The trail, lined with local shrubs and trees, will be labelled with their beverage and medicinal purposes.

There will also be Gospel Sundays at the Garden of the Groves, where attendees will be entertained by church choirs and gospel artists. Bahamian deserts and iced bush tea will also be available for sampling.

This is the third time that the festival will take place on Taino Beach and Bethel said that the Ministry has taken on a new partnership to allow them to better utilize local talent and private sector relations.

With 40 vendors lined-up for the event, Bethel said that they have gotten calls from since January from persons anxious to participate.

"This year we tried to target persons who were not working to allow them to vend," Bethel said. "Many persons who are not working have turned to vending for financial support so we try to accommodate them as best we can this year."

Changamaria Carey of Brimestone Productions, Jarvin Roberts of Roberts Sound Production and Derrick Nesbitt from Nesbitt Rentals have all partnered with the Ministry of Tourism to ensure that the event takes off without a hitch.

Bethel said that they will be responsible for managing this year's event and will be the catalyst for moving the festival from the public sector to private sector ownership.

They agreed that the partnership is a tremendous help during this time and promised to bring a festival that the Grand Bahama community will never forget.