Chairman of the National Junkanoo Committee, Douglas Hanna recently addressed the issue of delays during the Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade.
In a statement released on December 26th the Committee acknowledged concerns raised by patrons and participants regarding delays and gaps experienced during the parade. The NJC said a full operational review was underway including vehicle staging, marshal authority, timing procedures and coordination protocols.
Hanna told members of the media, “the parade started on time, I think at 9:00pm, that was the B group coming out. Unfortunately the second group coming out was and A group that wasn’t close to being on time. The third group that should have come out third, again, couldn’t come out because a quarter of their costumes was in the street, in place, and they couldn’t get out.”
In light of the delays the NJC Chairman was asked about any changes that will be made for the upcoming New Year’s Day Parade. He said, “the improvement that we need to make, Junkanoo groups come on time, let’s get started on time. That’s the improvement. And truthfully, at the staging area there was some lull with the Junkanoo groups but in most cases we go to the Junkanoo groups and say you need to come out and we quickly try to come out. The problem arises when they don’t feel it is their time to come out, that’s where the challenge arises.”
