National

YEAR IN REVIEW – Valley Boys Spilt: Two Factions Rushing Down Bay Street

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Whether you’re with and support the World-Famous Valley Boys led by Brian Adderley or with the Way Forward Valley Boys, led by Trevor Davis, one thing is clear – for the very first time in the history of Junkanoo two factions of the group will hit Bay Street on Boxing and New Year’s Day.

Published

12 months ago

December 29, 2024

Sasha Lightbourne

Where did this begin? The lines are a bit blurry there but the story definitely comes alive at the Sir Randol Fawkes Labour Day Junkanoo parade in June.

During the Independence parade, the divide was even clearer. Then we heard from Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence Chairman Dion Miller.

One of the few times that Brian Adderley did speak to the media, he shared that Davis’ faction should just break away and form a new group with a new name.

Now we’re going to fast forward to the official seed funding announcement on September 3 where the Culture Minister Mario Bowleg said no money would be given to either faction until a meeting on September 8.

That meeting happened at Baha Mar but without any resolution.

In between the minister’s announcement and that meeting at Baha Mar, police were called to the Claridge Road Shack armed with an eviction notice.

Despite all of that, Bowleg eventually said both factions would receive funding for the parade in the amount of $30,000.

Enter the JCNP, later in September where it was made clear that Adderley’s Valley Boys would participate in the a division while Davis’ Valley Boys would be participating in the f division.

The controversy continued in December. On December 8, in a statement from the attorney general, it noted that the Way Forward Valley Boys would participate in the A group.

A day later the JCNP chairman said both parades would be postponed.

Three days after that the culture minister made the announcement that the parades would go on as planned and that the Way Forward faction would be an “uncompetitive participant.”

Since this report was written and edited, we have had the 2024 Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade and from that the drama continued to doubt a story we will continue to follow into 2025.