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Two major bands pulling out of Kadooment Day 2022 will not stop the grand spectacle from taking place.

President of the Barbados Association of Masqueraders (BAM) Anthony Layne told Barbados TODAY on Friday that the leaders of 13 registered bands are currently working around-the-clock to ensure that all is ready for the big jump up on Emancipation Day, August 1.

However, Layne said that due to the unavailability of flights there are bands awaiting the arrival of costume pieces from overseas source markets.

“I have knowledge of one or two bands having trouble, not probably out of Trinidad, but out of other places like Miami, where their merchandise is a little delayed.

“The majority of the bands have multiple designers and one or two producers and they all don’t produce from Barbados. We have some producers and designers in Barbados and we have some in Trinidad.

“Knowing the issues at this point in time where there are less flights, obviously there will be less seats, so therein lies the problem. It is again unfortunate that that has happened, but that is where we are today,” he said.

On Wednesday, Power X Four announced that because it encountered difficulties getting its costume parts and body paint artist team to Barbados, the band will not be able to return as planned for the first Crop Over since the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed most national carnival activities. Power X Four said it explored all options, including hiring a private plane and utilizing multi-city flights, however, the operational expenditure heavily outweighed the practicality of continuing with its 2022 band.

Power X Four gave the assurance that all revellers who previously signed up for this year’s jump will be fully refunded and that the subvention from the National Cultural Foundation would be returned in full.

About six weeks ago, another one of the island’s largest and most popular bands, Baje International, announced it would not be on the road this year due to the inability to access the usual high-quality costumes for revellers.

But, Layne indicated that bands should start receiving ordered material from overseas. The association president said that bands face logistical issues every year, some even experiencing challenges of their costume parts being mistakenly shipped to other places.

“I don’t know if that is the only issue, but there is some truth to that issue. But these are things that happen every year, it is just that at this time it has impacted more severely, where you had one of two bands had to decide to pull out.

“It is unfortunate that it impacted the band that severely that it had to drop out because normally that does not happen. You still have a couple days that you can recover and still be okay, but I guess they are in a position where they can’t recover at this time,” he said.

The bands registered to be on the road Kadooment Day includes: Khepri Kulture, Eunoia Mas, Passion Vybz Kadooment Band, Kontact Band, Blue Box Cart, Betty West Productions, Colorz Entertainment, Romp International, Wednesday 2000, Krave the Band, Zulu International Inc., Envy Mas, and Aura Experience.

Noting that due to various factors there would be fewer revellers for Grand Kadooment, Layne said bands have been doing all that is necessary to market their bands and offerings for 2022.

He explained that because of the time it was announced that there would be a Crop Over, international revellers who usually come to the island to enjoy the sweetest summer festival, would have gone to other carnivals in the region.

“Those countries announced that their carnivals were on before us and we came after. So we anticipated that this would have happened and we spoke to a lot of our visitors and they would have indicated that they are in St Lucia, they were in Grenada.

“As a matter of fact right now in St Lucia, when you go online, you would see that a lot of the people that would normally be in Barbados are in St Lucia,” he said.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb