Posted by: Editor on Aug 23, 2006 – 11:25 AM
newsandinfo Bahamian Cowbells, Culture and Cuisine were the order of the day in the Town of Southampton, New York, on August Monday. Bahamian musician Ben Tinker, a resident of Southampton and his Star Fish Band came up with the idea to celebrate August Monday in the Hamptons and tagged it “Junkanoo Festival Day.”
The day long festival held at Dockers Restaurant, a popular Southampton waterfront dining cafe, drew scores of Southampton’s residents and visitors for a taste of Bahamian dishes including, conch salad, conch chowder, steamed crawfish, peas n rice, macaroni and cheese, grouper fingers and mango duff.
And as the sun went down over the Hamptons, August Monday Ben Tinker and his Star Fish Band, which included Goombay drummer “Babaloo” Nesbitt, struck up a medley of Bahamian calypsos – old and newas the patrons wiggled their way onto the dance floor for a night of fun. Later in the evening, with goatskin drums on their shoulders, whistles and cowbells Babaloo11 and his boys led a Junaknoo Rush-Out around the dance floor and started a ring play, as the enthusiastic patrons joined in.
The band only stopped briefly to allow the Honourable Patrick A. Heaney, town supervisor of the Southampton Town Board, to present the Hon. Ed Bethel, Consul General of the Bahamas to New York, with a Proclamation from the Town of Southampton proclaiming August 7, 2006, “JUNAKAOO FESTIVAL DAY” and to wish Ben Tinker and the Star Fish Band “great success with this wonderful celebration of Bahamian art, culture and cuisine.” Consul General Bethel also congratulated Mr Tinker for his display of Bahamian pride and patriotism and thanked the residents of Southampton for their support.
Mr Tinker said he hopes to make Junkanoo Festival Day an annual event in the Hamptons.
The Town of Southampton is the largest and most populous of the five East End Towns of Suffolk County and is located approximately 80 miles from New York City.
Southampton is home to nearly 55 and 210 visitors on a year-round basis. The Town of Southampton is considered a popular seasonal resort area, drawing thousands of visitors and seasonal residents. Tourism and vacation home industries drives the economic development of such town.
Courtesy of Ed Bethel, Atlantis