The Shell Superstar Saxons Junkanoo Group has been declared the unofficial winner of the 2018 New Year’s Day Parade.

The parade which took place in traditional style culminated the Junkanoo year which was plagued by controversy during the 2017 Boxing Day Junkanoo parade.

In second place in the adult group category was One Family, third was The Valley Boys, fourth was Roots and Genesis placed fifth.

After the hiccups of the Boxing Day parade, Minister for Youth Sports and Culture Michael Pintard along with a number of Junkanoo leaders had a meeting with the Prime Minister which Pintard said was in relation to structuring Junkanoo to be an international attraction for the Bahamas.

The restructuring process to make this happen he said will possibly take many forms.

“ The first thing is the construction of the multipurpose Junkanoo shack that will be revenue centers for the various groups as well as the government in public private partnership,” Mr.Pintard said.

He added that the restructuring could be to decide change the venue of the parade and also whether to have one parade in traditional style and the other as a people’s rush.

“The people’s rush will give persons an opportunity to participate in the parade. Both Bahamians and visitors can have a costume made ahead of time,” Pintard said

The Minister added that he, The National Junkanoo Council and the Junkanoo Corporation New Providence will meet later this month to plan a conclave about a range of issues in Junkanoo.

He said that whenever he meets with Junkanoo leaders, he brings up the proposed changes which he said are concepts that are not brand new.

Mr. Pintard   added that the leaders seem to be open to discussions and overall he is simply happy that the 2018 parade went well.

“We thought that the parade flowed well and at the end of the first lap the crowd was substantial and persons were still coming and it was a good mix of Bahamians and visitors,” Pintard said.

Minister Pintard said he was most impressed with the execution of the various group’s themes, given that it is very demanding to produce such large costumes for one parade, much rather two, back to back.

There was no crime to report related to last night’s festivities as ACP Ken Strachan said they had their officers on guard.

“The parade started on time and we had all of our stops out. We had a few minor disturbances but we had a wonderful parade,” Strachan said.

Mr.Strachan said that there were just a few small brawls including bumping and shoving, but nothing substantial to report when it comes to the parade.