Crop Over bandleaders see bumper season with T20 cricket boost

By Shamar Blunt

Crop Over 2024 is shaping up to be hugely successful, festival bandleaders said on Friday, declaring optimism on the heels of an intensified marketing effort by tourism officials for the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup in June.

Jason Thompson, president of the Barbados Association of Masqueraders (BAM), and Ryan Forde, Co-Director of Vida X Esquire band told Barbados TODAY of rising interest from people looking to participate in the 2024 festival season. They expressed confidence that the cricket tournament followed by the national festival would appear more like an “extension of the winter season”.

The Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) and other stakeholders have been actively promoting Crop Over as part of the overall Barbados destination ahead of the summer season, said Thompson. “So we are hoping that persons that come to experience the cricket would return for Crop Over. We are hoping that there would also be an [increase in] the spectatorship and the persons that would come to masquerade,” he said.

Forde echoed these sentiments, noting that interest in Barbados has been growing since the England vs West Indies cricket series last December. 

“It’s kind of like an extension of the winter season, and then obviously with different bands launching either virtually or in person from earlier up in Q1 [quarter one] to the start of Q2 [quarter two], it now allows for much more marketing and promotion of what options they are,” said Forde, the CEO of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association.

With palpable optimism surrounding Crop Over 2024, bandleaders reported quick sellouts of costume sections and a high level of interest from potential masqueraders. As Thompson said: “[People] are coming for Crop Over 2024, and there is a high interest for Crop Over 2024. So we are all looking forward to a successful 2024 currently.”

In addition to the general excitement around this year’s festival, one band, in particular, is planning to capitalise on the cricket theme. Vida X Esquire, a relatively new band on the scene, is organising a themed event on June 30 – the day after the World Cup final – that will “play with the cricket concept” and blend in with the cricket fans expected here.

Forde explained: “We felt that would be fitting for us to kind of show what we do in terms of our creativity with events and levels of service.”

He noted that the buzz around Vida X Esquire has been high following their recent costume launch, with an “overwhelming amount of signups” for a new band – over 700 people joined last year. But, he acknowledged this presented its own set of challenges.

“The challenge [is] obviously it’s ten times harder than throwing a fete. You rely on more suppliers, you rely on trying to balance costs; things change a lot. It’s much more than just a costume that is included in the package. Then you have to balance all the infrastructure from the various suppliers,” he said.

Other issues faced by bands last year included problems at the start of the Kadooment Day parade. Forde said these are areas the bands are working with the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) and BAM to find solutions for.

“The main challenge that all of the bands would have had last year was the start, which was down to no one person specific, as well as security in specific areas. Those are areas that alongside the NCF and BAM and all of the bands, we are definitely working collectively to make sure that we can find solutions and positive ways forward,” he said.

Despite the challenges, Forde expressed confidence that “things are going to go well” for Crop Over 2024 based on the collaborative efforts between stakeholders. 

shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb