Bermuda Day, May 24, 2017

Bermuda Day, May 24, 2016

In Bermuda their national day is celebrated on the anniversary of the Queen's Birthday.  We had a saying in Canada when I was a kid. 

The 24th of May

Is the Queen's Birthday

If we don't get a holiday

We'll all run away 

In Canada, it has morphed into May long weekend, we have a holiday on the closest Monday to the 24, and it signifies the beginning of summer for most Canadians. Here in Bermuda they celebrate the holiday on the 24th no matter what day of the week it is. We went into Hamilton the capital to watch the Bermuda day parade.  We found out that the day was not so much about the parade as being there.  As you can see in the picture everyone had put up tent tops and brought chairs.  They came down the night before to set up and on the day the family showed up with enough food to last all day.  

These were the folks that we stood beside for most of the parade. I was dying to have some of that tasty looking potato salad. There were tables set up at the back of the chairs for the food and later in the day the bar was set up. These people were kind enough to lend us a very large umbrella when it sprinkled for about half an hour.

 People strutted their good clothes, especially the young crowd. 

The parade www very spread out but there were some great floats and the dance groups were very co-ordinated. 

These are the "Gombeys" a way of celebrating their African heritage.  We first saw these type of costumes in Saba at the St.Patrick Day's parade.  The Gombey's are known for their wild dancing and they don't say a word and their faces are hidden, so they a quite mysterious. I am quite fascinated with them.