News Americas, Mon. Aug. 4, 2014: Can you guess where this is?
It’s Crop Over in Barbados and today marks the end of the event with the Grand Kadooment. The popular and colourful festival turns 40 today. Its origins can be traced back to the 1780’s, a time when Barbados was the world’s largest producer of sugar.
At the end of the sugar season, there was always a huge celebration to mark the culmination of another successful sugar cane harvest – the Crop Over celebration. As the sugar industry in Barbados declined, so too did the Crop Over festival and in the 1940’s the festival was terminated completely.
However, the festival was revived in 1974 and other elements of Barbadian culture were infused to create the extravaganza that exists today – an event that attracts thousands of people from across the globe in a carnival parade.
Designers compete for the coveted Designer of the Year prize while the revelers are intent on having a good time! The revelers make their way from the National Stadium to Spring Garden accompanied by the pulsating rhythm of calypso music. People line the route to watch and photograph the bands go by, joining in the merriment where they can. When the revelers reach Spring Garden, the party continues with more fantastic music, lots of food and drink and, for some, a quick swim at the nearby beach. A grand end to a grand festival.
The bands parade across in front of the stands at the National Stadium before proceeding to Spring Garden. e revelers make their way to Spring Garden accompanied by the pulsating rythym of calypso music. When they reach Spring Garden, the party continues with more fantastic music, lots of food and drink and, for some, a quick swim at the nearby beach. A grand end to a grand festival.
