Crop Over is a traditional harvest festival which began in Barbados, having had its early beginnings on the sugar cane plantations during slavery.

History

The original crop-over tradition began in 1687 as a way to mark the end of the yearly harvest, but was wide-spread throughout the region at the time, including in

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

, Trinidad and Jamaica. As such, it still shares similarities with

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

in Brazil and Trinidad. Many crop-over celebrations were organized and sponsored by planters, who used gifts of food and liquor as a means of reenforcing and excusing the continued enslavement of their labour force. However, slaves would also have often unsanctioned fetes that featured singing, dancing and accompaniment by bottles filled with water, ''

shak-shak The shak-shak (or ''chak-chak'') is a kind of Antillean musical instrument, similar to maracas or shakers. They are played in Barbados, Montserrat, Grenada and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Their uses include Montserratian string bands and t ...

'',

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, triangle,

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

, guitar, and bones that were more in keeping with their ancestral culture. Other traditions that were later added included climbing a greased pole, feasting and drinking competitions. However, with the harsh effects of World War II on Barbados, these annual celebrations came to an end. The Crop Over Festival was first launched on June 1, 1970 around the same time as the birth of Alison Hinds, but was not officially called a festival until 4 years later. Crop Over was revived and organized as a national festival in 1974 by local stakeholders including

Julian Marryshow Julian Marryshow (1918 – 17 July 2012) was a Grenadian-born Royal Air Force fighter pilot during World War II. Later, as a tourism advisor in Barbados, he was credited with having reintroduced the traditional Crop Over festival, which had a co ...

Flora Spencer Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

Emile Straker Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...

, and Livvy Burrowes with the Barbados Tourist Board, as a way to attract more tourists to the island and revive interest in local folk culture. Beginning in June, Crop Over now runs until the first Monday in August when it culminates in the finale, The Grand Kadooment.

Customs and tradition

The entire two months have a party-like atmosphere, with a variety of public and privately held events. The various official 'Events Barbados' festival albums typify the sense of national merriment which is prevalent across the season (see ). The private events serve as the lead up to Kadooment Day and have many concepts such as sunrise, cooler, sunset, and all-inclusive themes. One of the major public features held is the calypso competition.

Calypso music Calypso is a style of Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the early to the mid-19th century and spread to the rest of the Caribbean Antilles and Venezuela by the mid-20th century. Its rhythms can be traced back to We ...

, originating in Trinidad, uses syncopated rhythm and topical lyrics which may satirise local politics or comment on the issues of the day. Calypso tents feature a cadre of calypsonians who perform biting social commentaries on the happenings of the past year, political exposés or rousing exhortations to ''wuk up'' or "wine up", "jonesing", ''roll de bumper'', guh down (pronounced "dung") and "six-thirty" dance. Most recently, local variations of soca music have also featured prominently at the festival. There are also craft markets, food tents and stalls, street parties and cavalcades every week supplemented by other daily events. Competition 'tents' ring with the fierce battle of calypsonians for the coveted Calypso Monarch Award. There are also the People's Monarch and

Party Monarch A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

competitions. The People's Monarch is a competition in which the public are given groups of songs; each group with two songs, and they vote until a winner is chosen. The Party Monarch competition, however, is chosen by a panel of judges and is based on presentation. Therefore, you may have the best song but not be able to make use of stage and props and not be crowned 'Party Monarch King/Queen'. The competition is held on the Ermy Bourne Highway, commonly known as East Coast. The air is redolent with the smells of Barbadian cooking during the

Bridgetown Market Street Fair The Bridgetown Market Street Fair is an annual sub-festival of the Barbados Crop Over Festival held in Bridgetown the capital of Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of ...

. Rich with the spirit of local culture, the Cohobblopot Festival blends dance and drama and music with the crowning of the King and Queen of costume bands. Every evening the 'Pic-o-de-Crop' Show is performed when finally the King of Calypso is crowned. The climax of the festival is Kadooment Day celebrated with a national holiday when costume bands fill the streets with Barbadian music and fireworks. 2020's Crop Over and

National Independence Festival of Creative Arts The National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA) is a festival organized by the National Cultural Foundation, held annually to commemorate the independence of Barbados. Music and other performing arts have been a part of the festival s ...

(NIFCA) were both cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Notes

Further notes

The Crop Over Festival: Barbados' Annual Carnival Celebration
by Baz Dreisinger, About.com

External links

Gallery
(Official) Event and Festival photo albums
Crop Over
(Official) website {{Carnival around the world Barbadian culture Carnivals in Barbados Harvest festivals History of sugar Food and drink festivals in Barbados Festivals established in 1688 Music festivals established in 1688 1688 establishments in the British Empire Music festivals in Barbados Carnival Summer events in Barbados Folk festivals in Barbados

History

Customs and tradition

See also

Notes

Further notes

External links