Heritage Month will have the theme “We are Bermudian” to help the Government promote the island’s cultural identity.

Cultural affairs minister Lovitta Foggo urged people to reflect on their commonalities throughout the month of May.

She told the House of Assembly: “It is a time to think about what it means to be Bermudian, and what makes our cultural identity unique.”

Ms Foggo said that the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs had long advocated for Bermuda’s cultural heritage to be celebrated all year long.

She added that the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs would acknowledge the theme for the entire calendar year.

The minister said: “Especially given the strong emotions surrounding cultural identity, this theme provides our citizenry with the opportunity to give consideration to what it truly means any time that anyone makes the proud declaration, ‘We are Bermudian.’

The Bermuda Day Parade will carry the theme “Celebrating our Caribbean Connections”, which Ms Foggo said would focus on one of the root cultures that forms the base of the Bermudian identity.

She said: “Bermuda’s connections with the Caribbean are profound on a number of levels: historic, familial, and cultural.

“One of the commonalities that we share with our Caribbean cousins is a culture which reflects a wealth of diversity.

“Like Bermuda, the islands of the Caribbean have never been homogenous, and one has only to look, for example, at our traditions of celebration, architecture, food, music, art and family customs, passed along from generation to generation, to appreciate the various racial and ethnic pools from which our culture is composed.”

• To read Lovitta Foggo’s ministerial statement in full, click on the PDF under “Related Media”