Successful festival

NCF satisfied with Crop Over despite last lap hiccups

By Shamar Blunt

Despite delays, hiccups and logistical challenges on the final day of the Crop Over Festival, some of which she insisted were unavoidable and out of the National Cultural Foundation’s (NCF) control, the organisation’s chief executive officer is reporting a successful 2023 season.

Amid widespread criticism about hours of delays in the procession of bands from Warrens to the Mighty Grynner Highway on Kadooment Day, Carol Roberts-Reifer insisted the problems should not overshadow the achievement of hosting the festival in a post-COVID era.

Speaking to Barbados TODAY on Tuesday after the culmination of this year’s festival which saw a return to the old Grand Kadooment route, she said some of the hold-ups that resulted in some bands waiting for more than four hours to move off from Warrens could not be avoided.

“I thought that there were hiccups for a number of reasons, some avoidable, some unavoidable – the major unavoidable one being the very sharp downpour of rain just as we were about to start. [We] couldn’t considerably ask bands to move off in that rain. And then we had one of the trucks [accompanying a band] breaking down while they were on route. Based on the location, it made it a bit difficult for the other bands to manoeuvre past them,” she explained.

“There were some bands that were not ready for a number of reasons… so it was just a confluence of circumstances that contributed to the snafus along the route yesterday.”

Despite these shortcomings, the NCF CEO was adamant that Kadooment Day was undeniably successful.

“My reports indicate – and from what I observed from driving the entire route – that there are several successes. I was delighted to see the number of people that came out, probably one of the largest crowds in recent times to watch the bands. I am delighted to see the amount of posts on social media of revellers and patrons alike declaring what a good time they had. I was delighted to be on the road with almost all of the major artists with hit songs for the season, and watching them perform for and interact with the patrons on the road with little or no mishaps.

“There was just joy in the streets, and people just jumping and dancing and making merry and having a good time, which is at the root of the story of Crop Over,” she said.

Roberts-Reifer added that although there were other challenges throughout the season, Barbadians should be proud the country was able to host a successful carnival.

“For the next 24 to 36 hours, there will be comments about the snafus on the road [on Monday]. I’ve also seen a few concerns and critiques about the [Pic-O-De-Crop] finals at Botanical Gardens, but let us put it in perspective.

“We’ve also had three very successful visual arts exhibitions; we have had major private events that came off without a hitch and attracted tens of thousands of people – Soca on The Hill, Tipsy, and a number of others. We have had all-inclusive events like Mimosa and Scorch that came off extremely well; we had developmental programmes in Junior Kadooment and the Junior Calypso Monarch that showed clearly that the authenticity of our culture is generally alive and well among this demographic.