Grace Bay road was definitely the centre of attraction during Provo’s busy Christmas season, as thousands of visitors and residents crowded the street to witness a dream turn to reality, when the TCHTA and the Cultural and Arts Commission hosted the much talked about 1st Annual Maskanoo event on Monday, 27th December, 2010.
The event saw many persons gathering before the scheduled kick off time to mingle with vendors who lined the street selling a wide selection of items from famous Bambarra products to hand painted arts and crafts made out of local materials. These local items were indeed a big hit during the evening’s festivities, as persons were able to take tangible pieces of TCI’s culture with them.
Individuals were treated to a cross section of TCI’s local talent highlighting ripsaw music by the Island Boys, TCI’s song bird Barbara Johnson, popular Junkanoo group ‘We Funk” as well as The Somerset and Regent Palms Maskanoo groups who used amazing colours to complement the creative costumes worn throughout the parade. Spectators also joined in the parade with dancing, singing, waving, shouting and other pulsating expressions of excitement. Maskanoo 2010 culminated with a breathtaking display of fireworks visible from Grace Bay beach and the Grace Bay strip.
In addition to the entertainment and other offerings at Maskanoo, individuals had an opportunity to try their luck by participating in the $5000 Maskanoo Raffle, which was drawn later on in the evening. Prizes up for grab included 1st prize $5000, 2nd prize $500 and 3rd Prize $100. The astonished and excited winners included Krystal Malcolm who won 1st prize, Nicholette Thomas walked away with the 2nd prize and Veronica Rigby captured the 3rd prize.
Karen Whitt, President of the Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association (TCHTA), commenting on the success of Maskanoo 2010 said, “We were thrilled with the huge turnout of our visitors and residents to this first ever Maskanoo event. The participation from the local community, the media and our vendors has been unparallel and we look forward to gaining everyone’s support for Maskanoo 2011. This is a true example of what can unfold as a result of dedication and hard work. We anticipate that 2011’s event will surpass everyone’s expectations as we strive to improve annually.
TCHTA is also very grateful to those individuals and businesses who were committed to making Maskanoo a success!”
David Bowen, Director of the Cultural and Arts Commission stated, “I am still amazed and was very much impressed with the level of support and participation that we were able to attract for Maskanoo. The journey has definitely not been easy and we would have never been able to make the event what it truly was without our Maskanoo groups and participants. For their willingness and efforts, I would like to say a big thank you. We are excited and ready for Maskanoo 2011 and are already putting things into place in order to have a much larger showcase of our Cultural Heritage”.
The Maskanoo Committee would also like to take this opportunity to thank the sponsors and supporters of the event and looks forward to a bigger and better Maskanoo 2011 on Monday, December 26.
Official sponsors for Maskanoo 2010 included:
Radio Turks & Caicos
Royal Jewels
IslandCom
FirstCaribbean International Bank
KBC Productions – 92.5 FM and 102.5 FM
Tropical Imaging
International Banking Group
Sky Juice
Dove’s Security
Bangers & Crash Fireworks
Caribbean Cruisin – TCI Ferry
PPC Ltd
Bournewell Marketing Ltd.
