Junkanoo is a festival that was originated during the period of African chattel slavery in British American colonies. It is practiced most notably in The Bahamas, Jamaica and Belize, and historically in North Carolina and Miami, where there are significant settlements of West Indian people during the post-emancipation era. In the present day, there are considerable variations in performance and spelling, but there are the shared elements of masquerade (or masking), drumming, dance, and parading.
In many territories, Junkanoo is observed around the week of Christmas. These Christmas-time cultural parades are predominantly showcased in Jamaica.[1] In The Bahamas, it was initially called Junkanoo and is said to date back to the 1700s where it is celebrated year round. In Belize, where the music is also mainstreamed, competition results are hotly contested.[2] There are also Junkanoo parades in Miami in June and Key West in October, where local black populations have their roots in the Caribbean.[3]
