The lineup of local and regional music artists who will perform during the upcoming Junkanoo Carnival was announced by the Bahamas National Festival Commission (BNFC) yesterday and it includes Trinidadian Soca star Machel Montano, who is reportedly the event’s headliner.
According to the BNFC, other music artists scheduled to perform during the May 7 – 9 peak of the Junkanoo Carnival season are several world-renowned and award-winning artists, including Bahamian music legend Ronnie Butler, Grammy Award winning Baha Men, Visage, Bunji Garlin and Julien Believe.
“The Bahamas National Festival Commission is extremely pleased to be announcing this lineup of some of the best artists that this country and this region has to offer,” said CEO of the BNFC Roscoe Dames in a statement released yesterday.
“We are excited to bring the Caribbean to The Bahamas as we take The Bahamas to the world.”
Kicking off the week of events on May 7 will be Junkamania, a concert of musical orchestras infusing Junkanoo music with non-traditional instruments. Special guest performances by Julien Believe, Bunji Garlin and Visage are slated for the Thursday night of events.
On Friday night, the Music Masters top ten finalists will all compete for the $20,000 grand prize on Fort Charlotte.
The Music Masters competition will include special performances by billboard artists Baha Men and Soca Monarch winner Machel Montano. A top group out of Haiti will also be performing on the historical night.
The lineup for Saturday will also include a taste of Latin America, with a Cuban band flying in to perform in Da Cultural Village, the epicenter of activity during the season, at the Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival’s All-Star finale event.
Soca artists Skinny Fabulous and Olatunji will also give performances before the grand event of that night, where Bahamian music legend Ronnie Butler will take to the stage in a rare performance of all of his greatest hits.
“This is an All-Star lineup that we feel will be one of the greatest entertainment events of the region,” said Dames. “We invite the world to come and see what we have to offer.”
The lineup for the scheduled Music Masters Semi Finals concert, April 17-18 in Freeport, Grand Bahama include top billboard artist T-Connection, Jay Mitchell and the 17 semifinalists.
Ten of these artists will move on to the final rounds of competition on May 8, 2015 at the Music Masters Concert, sharing the stage with the announced award winning artists.
