A total of 30 bands register for Kadooment and Foreday Morning events

Cabinet has officially approved plans for the staging of Crop Over 2022 with changes to the previously announced format of the main cultural events as well as the COVID-19 protocols that will be in effect.

However, stakeholders are already reporting a significant reduction in the number of bands participating in this year’s event.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Chief Executive Officer of the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) Carol Roberts-Reifer disclosed that there would be one Grand Kadooment jump and two Foreday Morning jumps.

She also announced that revellers will now have the option of either being fully vaccinated or presenting a negative antigen test.

More than a month ago, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, Dr Shantal Munro-Knight, announced five Grand Kadooment routes, four Foreday Morning routes, and that revellers needed to be both fully vaccinated and tested prior to the jumps.

According to Roberts-Reifer, this year’s Grand Kadooment parade will leave the ABC Highway at Warrens, St Michael, and move south to the Emancipation Statue before making an about-turn toward Waterford Bottom and onto the National Stadium.

One of the two Foreday Morning routes will leave the King George V Memorial Park and end at Bushy Park Raceway, while the other will begin and end at Searles, Christ Church.

“For both Foreday Morning and Grand Kadooment, it is the intention of the NCF and stakeholder groups to canvass the neighbourhoods and communities in these locations to ensure that we don’t seem to be invading without any interaction or conversation with the residents in the areas, such that their day-to-day living and the staging of this event for one day only can coexist peacefully,” said Roberts-Reifer.

“The other thing is that revellers for both Foreday Morning and Grand Kadooment now must be fully vaccinated or present a rapid Antigen test,” she added.

Roberts-Reifer was addressing a press conference on Tuesday at the NCF’s West Terrace St James headquarters with numerous stakeholders, including the Barbados Association of Masqueraders, the Entertainment Association of Barbados, the Barbados Association of Event Professionals, and a representative of Foreday Morning band leaders.

They indicated that just 14 Grand Kadooment bands and 16 Foreday Morning bands had confirmed their participation in this year’s Crop Over festivities.

“I think it is the stark reality of our life at the moment. There are people of all backgrounds and ages who are telling you, ‘I am still a little bit wary of COVID and perhaps I won’t go out as much as I used to, or perhaps I won’t go out at all’. That is the reality,” said Roberts-Reifer.

“There are people who would normally travel to festivals, not just Crop Over, who are saying ‘perhaps I will skip this year out’. There are others who are not working because they have not worked since COVID because their jobs were made redundant. It is just the state of the world, so the expectation that numbers would be at the levels they had been at in 2019 is a bit difficult,” added the NCF CEO.

Spokesman for the Foreday Morning band leaders, Bryan Worrell said he was pleased with the process and outcome of the negotiations for this year’s festival.

“This is our first year getting a subvention, that is the first time for that, and we are very excited. We know that there were multiple routes previously and we have been able to dwindle those down to just two routes now,” he told reporters.

“We have 16 bands that have come forward and will be participating, down from the usual number of 40 or more, and I just want to say that I look forward to participating.

“There is a special effort to push Barbadian music for this event, Foreday Morning, and we will do as much as we can to facilitate that through the selection of music through our deejays, etcetera,” he added.

President of the Barbados Association of Masqueraders Anthony Layne praised the NCF for its commitment to this year’s festival, noting that, already, bands have started to launch.

“We agreed at times and we disagreed at times, but at the end of the day it is about what happens for 2022, and I am very pleased to see where we are today,” said Layne.

“It is a little short in terms of time we have for August 1st, but I believe it is time enough that we can execute and make this festival as good as we possibly can. As I have said to our members, which is about 14 bands that should be coming, we will still produce the best possible costumes for 2022 because this is our stepping stone for 2023,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bryan Corbin, chairman of finance of the Barbados Association of Event Professionals, is optimistic about the impact of the festival on the struggling sector.

“It’s been very hard; a lot of us have lost business, some have even lost their homes, and we have lost important tradespersons due to COVID. So, I want to thank everyone, the Government of Barbados, especially the NCF, for making sure that we are at this point, to make sure that we are here once again,” he said. kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb