Crop Over overflow: Promoters eye Independence season for event expansion

In a bold move to alleviate the congested Crop Over calendar, Barbadian event promoters are setting their sights on the Independence season for hosting major festivities. This strategic shift, revealed by Rudy Maloney, president of the Entertainment Association of Barbados, comes as the summer festival reaches unprecedented levels of popularity, straining existing venues and schedules.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Maloney said that several promoters were already planning events for November, aiming to create a festival atmosphere around Independence Day and the pre-Christmas period. This move is seen as a way to decongest the Crop Over season while potentially creating a new cultural and economic boom for the island.

“There are event producers who are already planning for November; they are trying to create a festival around Independence and just before Christmas, so you will see a number of events in November,” the event producer said. “Because there are so many events around Crop Over, a lot of the event producers would try to move their events into different times.”

The ever-increasing roster of Crop Over events each year has led to calls from industry leaders for innovative solutions to accommodate the growing demand. Maloney emphasised the urgent need for new and larger event spaces to cater to the swelling crowds of patrons and ambitious promoters and to address concerns such as noise complaints and other factors that hinder the development of bigger and diverse locations.

“It is time that we try to find different and larger venues, and this is because of the amount of persons [we see now], and as people come out of school and want to party, you would get more people coming out. So yes, it’s time we look for more venues,” he stressed.

Despite the space constraints, Maloney reported that the current season has been largely successful, with most events well-attended and patrons expressing satisfaction with the quality of local music.

“There were plenty of events this year, most of them were pretty well attended depending on the size of the venue. So yes, people came out, people supported the events and most of the events the people had a good time,” Maloney said.

“One of the things that the people are saying and the event producers, is that the music is pretty good out of Barbados this year, so people are really enjoying themselves.”  (SB)