By Jamel Hardtman | The Daily Hour

I had a blast on Bermuda Day. I want to be upfront about that, because what follows is not an attack on the holiday or the people who pour themselves into making it happen. The performers, the dancers, the majorettes, the gombeys, the marshals, security officers, vendors, and every volunteer working behind the scenes — they deserve genuine recognition for helping bring to life a day that means so much to Bermudian culture and identity.

But two things can be true at once. We can appreciate the experience and still acknowledge that aspects of it need serious improvement. Holding both of those positions at the same time is not contradictory. It’s what caring about something actually looks like.

There is simply no good reason the Bermuda Day parade should be ending after nine o’clock at night. None. For those who respond to that observation with “that’s just Bermuda” or “it’s part of our culture” — I have to respectfully push back. Chronic lateness and disorganisation are not culture. They are habits, and not every habit deserves to be defended simply because it is familiar. At some point, we have to stop excusing those things as charming quirks of island life, because they carry real consequences — especially for young people who grow up hearing that being late is somehow cultural, only to enter schools, workplaces, and professional environments where punctuality is non-negotiable.

The concerns raised by a parade stretching deep into the night are not trivial either. Seniors who want to enjoy the day comfortably. Families with young children who cannot reasonably be expected to wait hours past dark. Safety considerations that grow more pressing as the day ages — as more alcohol is consumed, as tempers shift, as decision-making deteriorates. These are not minor inconveniences. They are legitimate reasons to ask whether the event is being managed as well as it could be.

None of this diminishes what Bermuda Day represents. The creativity, the energy, the community — that is all worth protecting and celebrating. The argument here is not to strip the day of its character. It is to organise it well enough that its character can actually be enjoyed fully, safely, and by everyone. Those goals are not in conflict with each other.

Bermuda is absolutely capable of producing an event that retains all the excitement and cultural richness that defines the parade, while also improving timing, structure, and overall management. The question is whether there is sufficient will to make those improvements happen.

So I’ll put it to you: what can realistically be done to improve the Bermuda Day experience? And for that matter — was the parade simply too long?

Let’s hear your thoughts.

— Jamel

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