Chairman of the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) Dr Jasmine Babb has hailed Crop Over 2026 as a success, describing this year’s festival as “brilliant”.
Babb said the strong attendance at events throughout the season, including the Pic-O-De-Crop Finals, Pandemonium and Junior Kadooment, reflected the continued support for the festival.
“All of the fetes and all of the events have been sold out. The [Pic-O-De-Crop] final was absolutely full. We also had Pandemonium which was well attended and Junior Kadooment. Everything was well attended, and everybody is coming out including the vendors. All in all this year has been an excellent year,” she told Barbados TODAY.
She noted that the only challenge this year that the NCF had encountered was the location for the hosting of the finals after Kensington Oval was secured to be the location for the state funeral of National Hero Sir Garfield Sobers.
The finals was initially moved to CARIFESTA House, but after NCF officials met with artistes, it was shifted to the National Botanical Gardens, a move which was welcomed by many patrons.
“In the end, we came to an agreement among the parties and that event went excellently,” she said.
All eyes now turn to Tuesday night’s Cohobblopot, which returns to the Crop Over calendar after more than a decade and will also be held at the National Botanical Gardens.
“Cohobblopot is back with all of the costumes and we are bringing back some of the heritage costumes and hope to develop this further next year,” she said.
Traditionally held on the Sunday preceding Grand Kadooment, Cohobblopot served as a vital element of the Crop Over celebration, uniting theatrical elements, costumes, and music into a major showcase.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office with day-to-day responsibility for Youth and Culture Shane Archer recently announced the return of the event, emphasising that it will serve as a revitalised cultural experience focused for a modern audience while bringing back memories for past attendees.
NCF Festival and Events Planner Stacia Bryan gave kudos to the security services for ensuring that the festival was relatively incident free.
NCF Festival and Events Planner Stacia Bryan. (Photo credit: Jenique Belgrave/ Barbados TODAY)
“We worked very early this year with the team from The Barbados Police Service and we have a new commissioner and have also been working with Assistant Commissioner Christine Stanford. She is amazing and has worked with us for about three to four Crop-Overs, so we have a well-oiled machine happening. The Barbados Defence Force — thank you to Brigadier [Carlos Lovell] and all the support we get,” she said.
Bryan also extended thanks to the staff of the Barbados Water Authority for setting up the water stations along the route for Grand Kadooment.
(JB)
