Bands heading to city streets to get more Bajans involved in Kadooment

In honour of Crop Over’s 50th anniversary celebrations, local bandleaders plan to cover Bridgetown with colour on Thursday with a street event,  to pique the interest of Bajans who may be considering joining in Kadooment.

This word comes from President of Barbados Association of Masqueraders (BAM) Jason Thompson, who told Barbados TODAY that the exercise will feature almost all the bands taking part in this year’s Grand Kadooment, with the hope of rising locals’ interest in joining a band this year.

“We have a major activation that is taking place on Thursday around 2 p.m., in town,” Thompson said. “The bands are all moving to Bridgetown where we are doing one big street fair starting at the same helipad [location] where the start for [Kadooment] will be. We are going to parade through Broad Street. All the bands will be out showcasing costumes, some will be out in t-shirts, banners, headpieces.

“We will end in Golden Square where anybody who wants a last opportunity to register for Grand Kadooment can do so,” he explained.

While the BAM previously said that interest from overseas markets continues to be high, he explained that the focus now was to get Bajans on the road celebrating the end of the summer festival.

“We want locals on the road, so we are doing whatever is necessary to get them out on the road. We are not focusing on the overseas market currently. We want more locals on the road especially because it is the 50th year, so we are trying to go back to a lot of traditional stuff with an increase in Mother Sallys, stilt walkers, and Steel Donkeys.”