The holidays are fast approaching and this year will soon come to a close. Thank goodness the latter part of the year is always my favorite. The weather becomes cooler (well sort of...here in Florida, we are always warmer than the rest of the country even in the winter), people are looking forward to spending time with their relatives and of course who could resist receiving gifts from that special someone? This is how the holidays are here in the U.S. but what about the islands of the Caribbean, specifically the Bahamas? Are their holiday's customs any different than the U.S? The short answer is yes. In fact, the U.S. can be considered conservative when celebrating the holidays compared to the Caribbean. It's not unusual to see businesses celebrate the Christmas holiday for a week or more! Let's see how both countries compare.
1. Halloween
This "holiday" is mostly celebrated in the U.S. The Bahamas and other Caribbean islands however largely disregards this holiday as a Satanic celebration and it is largely frowned upon because of its primary origins. In fact, religious leaders often condemn this holiday and people that decide to celebrate it.
2. Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is celebrated in the Caribbean but not in November. This is also more of a religious ceremony where thousands of people visit the church to give thanks to God for everything they have. A large abundance of food is also not customary during this time and turkey and stuffing would not be part of the menu but fish and other seafood would be.
3. Christmas/Boxing Day
This holiday has some similarities and some stark customary contrasts to the U.S. First I will mention the singularities. It is celebrated on the 25th of December, gifts are given especially to children, Christmas trees and wreaths are seen around the country and of course Santa makes his way through. The difference- Christmas is celebrated for 7 days straight! It's not unusual to see parties that last for days, businesses shut down for a week and the celebration of Junkanoo starts.During this festival, which is similar to Carnival in Brazil, people dress in colorful and sometimes bizarre costumes and dance in the streets with musical instruments like trumpets, trombones, tubas and cowbells to celebrate Boxing Day (the day after Christmas which is also celebrated in Britain and Canada). This was traditionally the slaves day of rest.
4. New Years Day
Finally we top it off with New Year's Day. Like the U.S. it starts December 31st and on January 1st there is yet another Junkanoo celebration that usually lasts until the following Monday. Church services are usually held at this time as well.
So as you can see the islands don't hold back when it comes to celebrating the holidays and you shouldn't either.
