The most colourful festival in the Caribbean is Cayman Carnival Batabano, presented by Lime. But whilst the adults prepare to shake their tail feathers, the future of dance is also ready to ruffle their own way through Camana Bay.

Yes, on Saturday, 14 May it’s the brilliant Junior Batabano, in which our young, bright stars of schools around the island show the grown-ups exactly how it’s done with inventive, brilliantly-choreographed dances and splendid costumes that are a credit to the younger generation.

This year the parade will be held at Camana Bay, part of a wholesome family fun day that involves nine local schools. For the past six years, the junior parade and teen dance has been separate from the main adult parade because, as organisers say, Batabano is for everyone. Wendy George is organiser of Junior Batabano.

“The theme of this year’s Junior Batabano parade is Hello Caribbean designed and made by Mr. Richard Bartholomew.

The parade will begin at 3pm and will be lead off by the CI Scouts. The participating schools will be accompanied by soca music along the way.

“This year’s parade and family fun day will be held on the Crescent at Camana Bay. The parade itself will start just outside the Cayman International School and wind its way into Camana Bay. Bouncy Castles, face painting and mask decorating are some of the activities that will be part of the family festival. Hot dogs, snow cones, pizza and cotton candy will be on sale. The winner of the T-shirt design competition will be awarded his/her prize at this event and the Junior Batabano T-shirt will be on sale,” she explains.

Bianca Freeland of event hosts Camana Bay expressed the location’s delight in welcoming Junior Batabano.
“Camana Bay has always been committed to fostering local culture and this year we are proud to lend our support to Batabano. The Town Centre’s pedestrian streets and family friendly atmosphere make it the perfect venue for the Junior Batabano parade and festivities,” says Bianca.

The word Batabano means the tracks laid in the sand by a turtle as it lays its eggs in the sand. As such, there is no more resonant word that speaks to Cayman’s heritage. The overreaching theme for all events is CayFusion which means all together as one; one people, one Caribbean, one nation. We may all have our individual backgrounds or different nationalities but when it comes down to throwing some shapes to soca music there are no boundaries to togetherness.

Participating Schools
Sir John A. Cumber Primary; Cayman International School; George Town Primary; St. Ignatius Catholic School; Cayman Prep School; Red Bay Primary; Savannah Primary; Bodden Town Primary; East End Primary

Sponsors
Ministry of Health, Environment Youth, Sports and Culture; Dart Management Ltd; Cayman Airways; Radio Cayman; Caymanian Compass; Department of Tourism; Cayman Distributors; Tortuga; Rotary International; Butterfield Bank