Grand Crop Over climax

 

It was pure dancing and enjoyment on the Mighty Grynner Highway once the bands came one by one.

The crowd grew rapidly as the more than 20 bands made their way along the final stretch for the Republic Bank Grand Kadooment 2019.

The merriment was accentuated with a variety of food and drinks and chat and laughter.

Happy revellers gyrated to the beat of the music while spectators gathered around, many with phones in hand, in order to capture the moment.

It was a vast contrast to what the scene was up to midday as the vendors eagerly beckoned for a sale, and visitors and locals tried to find a vantage point to see all the action.

A number of government ministers, former and current government workers and popular local personalities also made the trek along the newly re-named highway.

While everyone who spoke to Barbados TODAY lauded organizers for the effort they put into the preparations of the festival on the final day, one complaint was common – the length of time it took the bands to reach their final destination.

Minister of International Business Ronald Toppin told Barbados TODAY he enjoyed the festival.

He said he was especially pleased with the amount and kind of security he was seeing.

However, like many, Toppin said he was “disappointed in the pace at which the bands are getting down here on the highway”.

While the bands started around 8:30 a.m in front of the judges at the Botanical Gardens, up to 6:30 p.m. only seven bands had arrived on the Mighty Grynner Highway.

After parading along that Highway, revellers will enter Kensington Oval for the newly introduced ReWhine After Party, which has been put on by the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) in association with Twisted Entertainment.