Celebrating independence

 Miramar, could be described as the "little Jamaica" of Broward County in Florida. For despite having close to 135 ,000 residents with an equal number of Hispanics and blacks, the entire city council is either Jamaican or descendents.

So it is not strange to find the city hosting several events to celebrate Jamaica.

That's where my friend Carol and I headed to kick off our Independence celebrations (2023).

The crowd got much larger as night fell.

While those who came to eat stayed outside where they had a host of food trucks, the action was inside the hall, due to the unpredictable weather, I suspect.

Admittedly,  we got lost as we initially thought the event was at their fancy City Hall, so kept disobeying our GPS. When we finally followed it's instructions, we arrived at an abandoned building, as the venue had changed. 

But we finally made it to the correct location.

The crowd became much denser after nightfall.

My only disappointment is that I did not hear enough of the past festival songs when we were there.

But all's well that ends well and we had a good time. 

A great day

Going to the Tamarac sports complex on my birthday, May 20, was a pleasant way to close off my celebration.

For it was the city’s 60 th Anniversary and they put on a very successful series of family-oriented events to mark the day.

There were costumed characters all around but I was particularly impressed with the skills of the entertainers on stilts!

That’s balance power for you😊

On stage, there was the cultural side with songs and dances from Mexico and the South Pacific. (I came late so missed a lot including the reggae band😢)

Below is the band that closed off the cultural events before the light show.

Security was all around but thankfully, had nothing to do😊

All in all, I am happy I attended, for apart from the engaging performances, ran into quite a few friends and acquaintances.