Select your outward journey date
Select your return journey date

Bahamas Culture and traditions Bahamas

 
 
Area : 2069  sq.mi - Population 330000 hab.
Bahamas

Our expert Bahamas

map

map Bahamas

Weather

Culture and traditions Bahamas

 Traditions and customs

The Bahamians are generally affable and friendly and most of all they enjoy a party! So with this in mind, do not under any circumstances miss the Junkanoo festival on the 26th of December (Boxing Day) and the 1st of January in the streets of the main towns in the archipelago. A veritable explosion of colours, music and joy, the Junkanoo is comparable to the Rio Carnival or the New Orleans Mardi Gras, and you can find the different roots of the Bahamian culture there: African, Caribbean and English. In Nassau, you can visit the museum dedicated to the Junkanoo masks and costumes and the firm that manufactures them traditionally all year round. If you are in the Bahamas in the summer, you can go to Nassau for the Goombay: a mini Junkanoo that takes place every Wednesday on Bay Street.

 To read, see, listen

guide The Rough Guide to the Bahamas (2007)
Frommer's Bahamas 2010 (2010)
Complete Guide to Diving and Snorkelling in the Bahamas (2007)
Fodor's Bahamas 2010 (2010)
books Bahamas Blue by D. C. Poyer and David Poyer (1992) Visions of the Bahamas by Angus Thompson (2010)
movies

Several films have been made in the Bahamas:
- Some James Bond films.
- "Cocoon", by Ron Howard.
- "Flipper", by Ricou Browning.
- "Splash", by Ron Howard.


music The traditional music of the Bahamas is the 'goombay', the word means rhythm in the Bantu language. This music has the same name as the goatskin used to beat out its rhythm. With no violin or drums, it was originally played with a comb and scraper. At the time of slavery, the music groups did not have enough money to make instruments! Today, these groups play saxophone and electrical guitar, as well as saws and goombay percussion instruments, but retain their original style. Traditionally, this music accompanies the Bahamian Quadrille and the Polka, another example of the mixture between African and European culture.