Caribbean Beat — November/December 2017 (#148)

datebook
Your guide to Caribbean events in November and December,
from surfing in Barbados to restaurant week in Guyana
WikiPedant at Wikimedia Commons
Don’t miss . . .
Jonkonnu
26 December
Jamaica
Every year, in the midst of the Christmas carols, family
gatherings, and holiday cheer, a masquerade festival
gets under way in rural Jamaica. Jonkonnu (also spelled
John Canoe, Jankunu, and Junkanoo) has roots in several
cultural traditions first brought to Jamaica by enslaved
Africans in past centuries. You may have heard of the
Bahamas Junkanoo street parade, where thousands of
masqueraders dress in costume and boogie in freestyle
and choreographed dances along the parade route. The
Jamaican version is distinctive. Traditional characters
vary in each village, and are typically male masqueraders
donning costumes and dancing to upbeat drum and
flute rhythms. The agile and colourful Pitchy-Patchy,
the taunting Devil with his striking pitchfork, and the
pregnant and amusing Belly Woman, whose tummy jiggles
to the music, are guaranteed to invoke a mixture of fear
and excitement so beguiling it stops traffic.
How to get there? Caribbean Airlines operates daily
flights to Norman Manley International Airport
in Kingston and Sangster International Airport in
Montego Bay from destinations in the Caribbean and
North America
WWW.CARIBBEAN-AIRLINES.COM 19