Junkanoo

Junkanoo (also Jonkonnu, John Canoe) is a festival that originated during the period of African chattel slavery in British American colonies. It is practiced most notably today in the Bahamas, Jamaica and Belize, and historically in North Carolina and Miami, where there have been significant settlements of West Indian people during the post-emancipation era. In the present day, there are considerable variations in performance and spelling of the festival, but the shared elements of masquerade (or masking), drumming, dance, and parading continue. In many territories, Junkanoo is observed around the week of Christmas. These Christmas-time parades are predominantly showcased in Jamaica. In The Bahamas, it was initially called Junkanoo and is said to date back to the 1700s. There it is celebrated year round. In Belize, where the music is mainstreamed, competition results are hotly contested. In the state of Florida, Junkanoo parades take place in Miami in June and in Key West in October, locales that have black populations including those with roots in the Caribbean.