It is a truth universally acknowledged that the Caribbean has four seasons. Although not spring, summer, autumn and winter like our North American and European counterparts, the four seasons are equally important and celebrated. These are Carnival, Cricket, Crop Over and Christmas. If at any time you are in Barbados, or the Caribbean region, during one of these events, you will experience a party like no other.
Crop Over is the largest and most popular festival in Barbados. This event officially begins in July and runs for five weeks with the climax being the "Grand Kadooment" parade which always falls on the first Monday in August.
Crop Over, as the name clearly suggests, is a festival to signal the end of the once dominant sugar cane harvest. This festival had unrivalled importance in the days of the dominant sugar cane industry but faced a drastic decline in the 1940s due to the social and economic hardships facing not only Barbados but the rest of the world.
In 1976, the festival was revived and has grown from strength to strength. For many Barbadians living "over and away", the months of July and August are the most popular ones they choose to return home to coincide with all the Crop Over Festivities.
The social calendar is packed from as early as May with the popular Community Calvacades. This event is a musical and entertainment showcase where the local artistes get an early chance in the season to perform their songs and garner popularity and interest in the season. Every weekend the Calvacades travel to a different parish, therefore providing persons from all corners of the island to participate in the festivities.
Another way to enjoy the music and entertainment of the festival is by supporting the local Calypso Tents. Some of the larger tents like Bacchanal Time, are a Crop Over necessity on any calendar. The tents are where you hear some of the more controversial social commentary songs that will probably not make it on the national airwaves. The tents are where the unedited version of song, dance and entertainment is displayed. The calypsonians in the various tents are judged on particular nights to determine who will be in the Party Monarch Finals and the Pic-o-de-Crop Semi Finals on the East Coast.
The National Stadium is another major venue for events like Cohobblopot, the Pic-O-de-Crop Finals, Kiddies Kadooment and Grand Kadooment. Cohobblopot is a Barbadian word for a potpourri of items and this event showcases music, dance, the parade of the King and Queen of the Bands, food and all elements of the Crop Over festival in one location for one night. The entertainment features not only the best and most popular artistes of Barbados, but also from throughout the Caribbean.
Most people leave the National Stadium and head down to Spring Garden Highway for Fore Day Morning Jam which is another popular event. Mud, paint and oil are plastered on persons as everyone jumps and celebrates to the music.
From the Costume Band launches, beach parties, weekly themed fetes like Glow, Blackout, Insomnia, Masquerade and much more to the National Cultural Foundation official events, this entire festival culminates the first Monday of August with the biggest street party on the island "Grand Kadooment". Revelers parade across the stage at the National Stadium and then make their way down to the Spring Garden Highway. The party continues well in to the night and everyone starts planning for the next year! Crop Over is indeed "more than a Carnival, it sweet fuh days".
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