The 2024 festival was held at the Botanical Gardens and featured seven Gombey troupes

Bermuda Government update via press release:

The Department of Culture is proud to announce that the Gombey Festival has been named Best Cultural Event in the 2025 Best of Bermuda Awards, presented by The Bermudian Magazine. This honour recognizes the festival’s vibrant atmosphere, high-quality performances, and its role in spotlighting one of Bermuda’s most beloved traditions.

Minister of Tourism & Transport, Culture & Sport, the Hon. Owen Darrell, JP, MP, shared his appreciation: “The Gombey Festival is more than a performance, it is a powerful celebration of Bermudian identity, unity, and pride. This award showcases the hard work of our Gombey troupes and the Department of Culture in keeping this cherished tradition alive, dynamic, and deeply meaningful to us all.”

The 2024 festival was held at the Botanical Gardens and featured seven Gombey troupes, live performances by local artists and dance groups, a wide variety of food and craft vendors, a community art project in partnership with The Chewstick Foundation, and even a free fun castle for kids. As part of the weekend, the Department also launched the second instalment of its short film series, ‘Gombey Unity’, produced by filmmaker Qian Dickinson, further highlighting the stories behind the performers and their shared dedication to the art form.

The Gombey Festival continues to bring people together and celebrate a living tradition that resonates across generations. The Best of Bermuda award reflects the festival’s growing popularity and its meaningful place in the hearts of the community.

The awards were established in 1986 in honour of a celebrated Bermudian athlete and educator

Bermuda Government update via press release:

Bermuda’s finest young student-athletes were celebrated at the 2025 Denton Hurdle Memorial Awards, held on the evening of Thursday, 19 June at Warwick Academy. The ceremony, one of the most prestigious in Bermuda’s sporting calendar, recognises the island’s top primary, middle, and senior school athletes who demonstrate exceptional ability in sports, academics, leadership, and community service.

Minister of Tourism & Transport, Culture & Sport, the Hon. Owen Darrell, JP, MP, praised the accomplishments of all nominees, stating, “The Denton Hurdle Awards showcase the spirit of excellence and perseverance that defines our youth. Each student recognised here tonight represents the very best of Bermuda, not just in athleticism, but in their dedication to education, leadership, and positive citizenship. I commend these young individuals for their outstanding achievements and encourage them to continue striving for greatness.”

The Denton Hurdle Awards were established in 1986 in honour of Denton Hurdle, a celebrated Bermudian athlete and educator. Each year, schools across the island nominate one male and one female student from their graduating year who embody sporting excellence and holistic personal development. Awardees must excel in school sports, demonstrate discipline, leadership, academic achievement, and act as role models within their communities.

In the Primary School Division, Keirra Broadley-Samuels of St. George’s Preparatory was named the Girls Winner, with honourable mentions awarded to Aalirah Daniels from Harrington Sound Primary and Zaya Cann Berkeley of West End Primary. The Boys Winner was Owen Fosker of Warwick Academy, while honourable mentions went to Kimmij Simmons of Northlands Primary and Khaleef Daley of Francis Patton Primary.

In the Middle School Division, Avery Taylor of Bermuda High School was named the Girls Winner, with Riana Robinson of The Whitney Institute and Riley Khan of Warwick Academy receiving honourable mentions. Chaz Edmead of Saltus Grammar School took the title of Boys Winner, with Timothy Pearman of The Whitney Institute and De’ari Trott of Warwick Academy also earning honourable mentions.

In the Senior School Division, Carina Bortoli of Somersfield Academy was named the Girls Winner title, with Isabella Sousa of Warwick Academy receiving an honourable mention. The Boys Winner was Khari Sharrieff of The Berkeley Institute, while Alexander Rymon-Lipinski of Mount Saint Agnes Academy received an honourable mention.

The Department of Sport and Recreation, the Bermuda Schools Sports Federation, and participating schools extend heartfelt congratulations to all 2025 nominees and winners for their extraordinary efforts and commitment to excellence.

The Bermuda Hospitals Board sharing statistics on emergency room visits and wait times

BHB update via press release:

Friday 20 June 2025: As part of national Emergency Day on 27 May, BHB collated its EmergencyDepartment (ED) data to highlight the achievements of the ED team.

The BHB Emergency Department (ED) team includes doctors, nurses, nurse’s aides, emergency medical technicians, social workers and environmental services and security personnel, as well as all the BHB supporting departments. It is also important to acknowledge others such as our pre-hospital first responders (Bermuda fire and rescue service team and St John’s voluntary emergency medical technicians) and community surgeons in Bermuda who all respond to emergencies or support emergencycare in one form or another.

CEO & President Scott Pearman notes. “As a front-line service, Bermuda Hospitals Board would like to recognise all the dedicated professionals who provide emergency care around the clock. This year has been extremely challenging for the ED. The high number of medically-fit-for-discharge patients in KEMH has caused long wait times for patients waiting for admission to an inpatient unit, and those people waiting in the ED for a bed then fill up the Emergency Department itself. Amazingly, despite this, outside of patients waiting for an inpatient bed, the majority of people are seen and discharged from our ED faster than international benchmarks.

“I would like to thank our ED staff who have continued to care throughout this very challenging year to date and ensure every person in Bermuda got the care they needed.”

Chief of Staff, Anna Neilson-Williams says, “KEMH’s Emergency Department carries a unique responsibility as Bermuda’s only hospital ED, handling every emergency on the island. Despite this challenge, the team consistently delivers care that meets rigorous standards.

“Notably, KEMH is a designated Primary Stroke Centre through a partnership with Johns Hopkins Medicine International. This affiliation has brought global best practices for stroke diagnosis and treatment to Bermuda, ensuring patients receive expert care close to home. Work is also underway with Johns Hopkins to improve our emergency medical response to trauma and burns and improve outcomes for our most seriously injured patients.”

Chief of Emergency, Dr Chikezie Dean Okereke, explains that his department’s ability to meet international benchmarks has continued even through this year’s challenges.

“For the twelve months, April 2024 to March 2025, the ED recorded approximately 29,105 visits, involving about 18,123 individuals, 96% of whom were Bermuda residents. Among them, 1,188 patients presented with life-threatening conditions such as heart attacks, major trauma or severe respiratory distress that required immediate, high-priority care.“About 15,000 other attendances involved urgent but not immediately dangerous conditions — these still required significant resources such as tests, imaging and consultations to diagnose and manage.

“Despite the high volume, the emergency department team consistently delivered timely care. The median time from arrival to triage (initial nurse assessment) was just 14 minutes, and patients who did not require admission typically spent around three hours and eight minutes from registration to treatment and discharge. About 12% of patients were admitted to hospital for further care, while the remainder were safely treated and discharged. It should be noted that internationally, most public emergency departments aim to keep the median time between registration and discharge to within four hours.”

Dr Okereke warns, however, that people shouldn’t use this as a reason to come to hospital instead of seeing their primary care physicians (GPs).

“Just under half our patient are in the lowest two levels of acuity – meaning they have conditions or injuries that do not require Emergency care. They should see their doctor, or if it is the weekend go to the Lamb Foggo and other community urgent care centres.

“For a start, when we are busy, they are taking up our time which should be focused on those who truly need emergency care. Secondly, while our average wait times are and remain generally very good, people who come in with conditions that don’t truly need emergency care will likely wait a lot longer than those who come in with life-threatening injuries and illnesses. So, if you are not that unwell, you will wait longer than the average wait times.”

Keeping patients informed has been a key focus this year. Patients in the waiting room can now see a large display includes the wait times. It also advises how many low, medium and critical care patients there are, and how many are waiting in the department for bed. A KEMH Performance Data Snapshot report is also published every month on the BHB website’s statistics page, with a day-by-day summary of wait times, admissions, outpatient appointments and surgeries.

“We hope the community is proud of its Emergency Department,” says Dr Okereke. “This team is dedicated to your care every day and we are happy we can share our data to highlight the quality of our service.”