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#BTEditorial – Crop Over and NIFCA cancelled. A chance to reboot.

by Barbados Today
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Over the weekend, Crop Over, “the sweetest summer festival”, and the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA)  became the latest casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic.

An official release from the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), which organises both events, said this decision was based on “Government’s short term projections for the local economy, regional and international travel and trade, and weakened public confidence in attending mass gatherings both now and immediately after the pandemic”.

This is quite understandable since many Barbadians may hardly have the wherewithal to attend fetes and shows or buy costumes for themselves or their children to take part in Grand Kadooment. Regional and international transport has been suspended for the most part with flights grounded in their source markets, many of which are our main sources of visitor traffic that have been hit hard by the disease. So we definitely will not get the number of people coming into the island we are accustomed to during that time. As we have found out in some of the countries that have relaxed their curfews and other restrictions due to a fall-off in cases, such as Italy, China and South Korea, people are venturing out in a very cautious manner, so even if we are in better shape within a couple of months’ time, it would not be advisable to pack thousands of people into a venue for their entertainment with the COVID-19 threat still hanging over our heads.

Naturally, the decision to cancel Crop Over might have left some of the major stakeholders in a bind based on where they were in their preparation for this year’s event, but all is not lost. Mr Blood has stated that he is still planning to release new songs, and we would advise anyone else with their music ready to do the same. Many of our performing artists are on social media with their own channels highlighting their work, so if they have not already done so, now is a good time for them to maximise those channels by offering their music for sale via these outlets. Since there is no official season, calypsonians and other performers can release work throughout the year and not confine themselves to the period between now and mid-July. Also, if they have enough material to release an individual album, they can do like their counterparts elsewhere in the music industry and put some of their songs on hold until next year or beyond.

Kadooment bandleaders can also hold onto any material they have purchased for this year and the extra time this cancellation has bought them should mean next year ideally we will see something spectacular. However, if the world is still feeling the after-effects of COVID-19 then, they should not be too surprised if they end up catering to smaller numbers.

The NCF release stated: “The Ministry of Culture, the Creative Economy and Sports through the National Cultural Foundation has agreed to replace both festivals with a national training programme in schools and communities, and a wide-reaching campaign to fund and produce radio, television and digital content that will be available through several different channels including the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation. The NCF will shortly convene a series of stakeholder consultations to discuss ways in which cultural practitioners can participate in and benefit from the programmes identified to replace Crop Over and NIFCA.”

We need further details on these training programmes, because with schools currently closed and priority matters such as exam schedules still “up in the air”, we need to know how these are going to work. The NCF ought to have identified the communities it plans to venture into and the nature of the training that will take place.

NIFCA is a multifaceted festival with fine arts, theatre, music, dance and culinary arts. Few community centres have adequate facilities such as proper flooring, stages and kitchen facilities to accommodate the training associated with NIFCA. The NCF would thus have to allocate different times to the various communities at the facilities suited for these purposes, such as the NCF’s annexe, the Dining Club’s training facility, the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium and the like.

It is also unclear what age groups these programmes will cater to, and since people in communities work and go to school, they must be held at times conducive to their availability. We commend the Government’s willingness to fund radio, television and digital media content, which we hope will be screened adequately in terms of quality and content and not for any other considerations.

Succession planning is one area in which we can do miles better in both of these festivals; that is, it does not seem like enough is done to keep the content fresh or give newcomers a break. These community-based programmes once implemented successfully and sustained beyond this COVID-19 season should go a long way towards ensuring that when the current stalwarts retire or shuffle off this mortal coil, there are enough people with the requisite skills to keep these events growing stronger and better in the years to come.

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