Brucie in the context of the festival I do not know what it is meant to mean. Or more importantly what it has become to mean.

However if you asked 1000 UK'ers what the word darkie means to them, you would be hard pushed to find anyone that didn't say it was an adjective used to describe anyone of dark skin colour. It was very popular amongst folk who probably thought it not as harsh as ni**er.

Don't know if a sit com called 'Til death us do part' crossed the pond, but it was immortalised by the character Alf Garnett.

It's use has died out in the main, although you do still very occasionally hear it, although I have only ever heard it from the older generation.