Cayman Thanksgiving, a week long national celebration of Caymanian cultural heritage, kicked off on Friday night with the Homecoming concert at Pageant Beach.

The concert featured performances by some of Cayman’s most loved bands, bringing sounds as up The iZ, with their chart-topping songs, to the Swanky Kitchen Band – bringing the old-time music of Cayman back to life.

Some musical fireworks came next, with the Cayman Islands Marching Band, who won first place at the Cayman’s Got Talent contest earlier in the year. Theirs is a new and colourful take on traditional Cayman songs and melodies, all put together in a smart and highly disciplined military-style marching band.

The evening’s entertainment also saw a reunion of one of Cayman’s most famous reggae bands from the 80’s, Memory of Justice. The event was described by organisers as ‘being conceived with a view to invoking a sense of celebration, inspiration, as well as national pride and unity’.

The term ‘homecoming’ can be applied to the Cayman Islands because Christmas time was traditionally a time when Cayman’s seafarers came home from their long voyages, to join their families. “They would be welcomed and greeted by family members who hadn’t seen them in months, and sometimes, years,” said Rita Estavanovich, one of the event’s  MCs.

Other Thanksgiving events over the weekend included “Charity Begins @ Home,” where residents were asked to donate canned goods to containers situated at various locations around Grand Cayman for redistribution to the needy.

There was also a Thanksgiving themed Market at the Grounds to help residents prepare for their Thanksgiving meal on Sunday.

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