A Best of Bermuda Day Parade special will be screened later this month, the community affairs minister said this morning.

Lovitta Foggo said that the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs would work CITV to provide the public with a “Best of the Bermuda Day Parade”.

She said that the show would highlight floats and dance troupes that had taken part in the parade in previous years.

It will be aired on May 29.

Ms Foggo said that the Covid-19 pandemic meant this year’s Heritage Month would be marked “in a way that we have never done before”.

She added the decision to cancel the Bermuda Day Parade had been “difficult, and sobering, yet entirely necessary”.

However Ms Foggo said: “As we face this unprecedented threat, there is an even greater need to recall the original intention of Heritage Month, of celebrating our culture, family connections, national pride and unity.

“Although we are currently bound by the need to physically distance ourselves from each other, in ways that sometimes feel alien to us, this does not mean that the core ideology undergirding Heritage Month must also be cast aside.”

The theme for this year’s Heritage Month is “We Are Bermudian”.

Ms Foggo said that it was an “extremely worthy” theme given the history that Bermuda was living through.

She added; “Now, more than ever, is a time to remember who we are and what we stand for when we say ‘We Are Bermudian’.”

Ms Foggo said that Government was looking to provide virtual content to “achieve the goal of celebrating who we are while keeping Bermuda safe through physical distancing”.

She said that would include making traditional island foods, reading Bermuda stories, and Bermudian music.

Ms Foggo said that Bermuda arts and culture had given “emotional and spiritual sustenance” during the shelter in place.

She added that a “significant number” of local creatives had provided online entertainment during the lockdown.

However she acknowledged that creatives had been hit hard financially by the pandemic.

Ms Foggo said the Government would lead national conversations this month about how “arts, culture and heritage can best remain viable and vibrant during the development of our ‘new normal’”.

She added that a new website would be unveiled this month.

Ms Foggo said: “The Department has a treasure trove of materials and information on Bermuda’s culture and heritage.

“The website will provide the vehicle through which this material can be easily accessed, along with updates about the exciting new programmes that the Department is currently working towards, with the intention of developing our creatives, preserving our heritage, and celebrating our people.”

Ms Foggo said that part of the cultural birthright of Bermudians was “the long legacy of strength and resilience that we have to draw from”.

She added: “We are a people who are agile in the face of challenges, generous to our neighbours in times of trouble, and innovative with our solutions to problems.

“This is what we truly mean when we say ‘We Are Bermudian’ and I am immensely proud of who we are.”

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