Bermuda’s coral reefs will be the theme of next year’s Heritage Month and Bermuda Day Parade.

And the Island’s sporting heritage and roots will be celebrated in 2016 and 2017, according to Cultural Affairs Minister Wayne Scott.

Speaking in the House of Assembly this morning, Mr Scott said that this year’s Bermuda Day Parade had been “very successful”, featuring “beautiful floats that captured aspects of the theme in most artistic and creative ways”.

“I believe we can build on this year’s success by giving everyone — schools, community groups, dancers, float builders and the private sector — sufficient time to plan now to participate in our Heritage Month and Bermuda Day celebrations over the next three years,” the Minister said.

“The Heritage Month and Bermuda Day theme for 2015 is Bermuda: An Atlantic Garden. This theme encourages folk to celebrate Bermuda’s beautiful surrounding ocean and coral reefs — home to a multiplicity of organisms.”

Mr Scott said the theme was chosen in part because of Bermuda’s “long and proud maritime history”.

“This theme also provides an avenue for land lovers who may wish to focus on Bermuda’s beautiful environment which of course includes the flora and fauna that we take pride in caring for, cultivating and protecting. The term ‘garden’ therefore allows float builders the creative space to design oceanic scenes as well as to highlight our open spaces and our valuable landscapes.”

Moving on to 2016 — an Olympic year — the Minister said Heritage Month will be an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of some of Bermuda’s sporting heroes.

‘Bermuda: The Roots Within’ will be the theme of the 2017 celebration.

The Bermuda Day Parade was instituted after a period of social unrest in Bermuda and was put forth as an event that could bring the people of Bermuda together in harmony, with the aim of building a sense of community and civic pride,” Mr Scott said.

“This sense of pride in who we are as a people and the need to also embrace the influences of our many and diverse ancestors is, I believe, crucial to us moving forward as a people. It is critical to mending and healing the social fabric of our community.

“Thus the theme, ‘Bermuda: The Roots Within’ provides us with a golden opportunity to embrace, promote and celebrate our diversity as a people. Our roots can be traced to the islands of the Caribbean such as Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, Saba and Trinidad to name a few. Then too, some of our ancestors hail from Africa, the Azores, Portugal, England, Canada, and the United States of America. Through this theme we as a people can celebrate the traditions and customs, passed down to us from our ancestors that have now become our way of life and our way of making meaning.

“When I speak about our way of making meaning, I am referring to our intangible cultural heritage; which UNESCO defines as ‘the shared cultural expressions that have been passed down from one generation to another, [and] have evolved in response to their environments and contribute to giving a sense of identity and continuity’.

“We have our customs, traditions, stories, and folklore that make us who we are as Bermudians. Let’s celebrate that as a people.”