By: Hagar Owusu
It’s another mixed bag on the 2023 Junkanoo, scheduled for Ontario, Canada. The festival is celebrated by many islands across the English speaking Caribbean every year. Junkanoo bridges diverse cultures and showcases their various components to foster more knowledge that brings about unity and peaceful co-existence.
At this year’s festival, Ghana has booked a spot.
The Concept is rooted in the traditional Junkanoo which is based in the heroic exploits of Gyan Kwaw or John Canoe, another brave Ahanta that ever lived on planet earth.
He was a powerful merchant in the then Gold Coast who had his own private army and was an ally of Brandenburg-Prusia at the time of the Brandenburger Gold Coast colony in Axim.
Junkanoo Festival originated in the Bahamas around the 17th century as a masquerade event. Enslaved descendants of Africans on plantations in the Bahamas and beyond celebrated the festival on Boxing Day.
Today, as a cultural expression, Junkanoo is highly revered. Junkanoo is a street parade with music, dance, and costumes of mixed African origin in many islands across the English speaking Caribbean.
These cultural parades are predominantly showcased in the Bahamas where the music is also mainstreamed, and competition results are hotly contested.
This year’s festival is a global event, bringing people from various countries across the world to one platform and offers a great opportunity to meet new persons and make new friends and Ghana has been invited.
This event starts with the Heritage Tourism travelling to experience such places, artefacts, among others. There will be an Exhibition from Travel and Tourism Enterprises, Hotels and Tourism Accommodation Enterprises, Immigration Departments, Food and Beverage Industry, Entertainment, Educational Institutions and Producers of Arts and Crafts.
Clearly an entertaining festival, it has musicians performing, such as Ghana’s own legend, Bob Pinodo. Ghana’s Tourism Arts and Culture minister, Mr. Mohammed Awal is also billed to give a speech at the event.
The experience will help educate the younger generation since most of them did not grow to meet these traditions because it gets lost through the ages.
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