Concierge.com's insider take:

The climax of Bahamian nightlife is, of course, Junkanoo, an ebullient celebration that lasts all night December 26 (Boxing Day, on the Bahamian calendar) and returns on New Year's Day. Expect an exuberant profusion of spangled costumes, clanking cowbells, goatskin drums, and conch shell horns. The loudest and most lavish Junkanoo takes place along Bay Street in Nassau, but you'll find echoes on Grand Bahama, Eleuthera, Abaco, and Bimini islands. Everyone joins in—musicians, dancers, revelers, spectators, locals, visitors, dignitaries, old folks, children. If you can't be around for the real thing, there's a Junkanoo parade during the Heritage Festival in June, and Marina Village on Paradise Island has its own mini-Junkanoos every Friday and Saturday.