Thousands of Bahamians, young and old, joined The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism last weekend at the 2015 ‘It’s a Bahamian Ting’ Concert, held on Saturday, April 11, at Arawak Cay.
The live extravaganza featured all local performing artists and showcased free-to-the-public performances, as the ministry begins the countdown to Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival Festival this coming Thursday.
“This is a great event and it’s always good to bring our people together to celebrate who we are and what we are, and to refresh ourselves. We speak through our music, we speak through our culture. It’s the one thing that brings us to other people, and it unifies us,” said Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe.
“This event has always shown us how we empower each other through the greatness of our music and the greatness of our entertainers. We have it all in The Bahamas. What we need to do is capture it and present it to the world stage.”
Enjoyed by both tourists and Bahamians, the showcase was an honest display of local talent and cultural diversity to incite the deeply-rooted common love Bahamians recognize as what makes them special from everyone else in the world.
With Junkanoo Carnival around the corner, the time has come for Bahamian entertainers to share the stage with internationally recognized artists and encourage visitors around the world to come and get the Bahamian Experience through cultural exchange.
“The reality is when people come to our country, they stay at hotels, but they come looking for The Bahamas and The Bahamas means Bahamian people. And we need to ensure that we are delivering more for the Bahamian people, of the Bahamian people to our tourism product. The more we do that, the better we are going to be,” said Minister Wilchcombe.
Musicians from The Falcons and Arrow backed up the musical arrangements of performances from a cadre of known artists including Lassie Do Boys, Ancient Man, Elon Moxey, Puzzle, 242, K.B., Nita, Lady E, and Funky D all of whom shared the stage and gave Bahamians ‘all they got’ in Junkanoo, Soca, Rake-N-Scrape, Rap, and Goombay.
The concert concluded with thousands of people participating in a Junkanoo Street Rushout at the Fish Fry.
