The Brandon Gonez Show team recently had the pleasure of traveling to Barbados to explore the island, experience some of the country’s rich culture, and learn about the importance of Crop Over.
We took a road trip around the country to take in the lush scenery. The team’s tour guide shared that it only takes about 35 minutes in the car from the most southern point of the country to the most northern tip. We made a pit stop at Chefette, Barbados’ leading quick-service restaurant chain. The Barbadian company is family-owned, with 15 locations nationwide. The food can only be described as a vibe
Celebrating Crop Over
Baje International is one of the largest bands involved in Crop Over. BG spoke with band leader, Richard Haynes, about the importance of the annual festival.
“It’s our biggest cultural celebration,” Haynes shared, adding that Barbados has many celebrations.
“But Crop Over is like the Mecca of cultural celebrations. It’s huge for us, but it’s also very significant to our history, to our story.”
Haynes explained that the origins of Crop Over date back to Barbados’ colonial era.
“When the crop was finally over, the slaves got the chance to celebrate and free up themselves.”
What they would do is dress up and mimic the masters, and put on all kinds of costumes, drink rum and [eat] food and dance,” Haynes continued.
“The whole history and legacy of that is kept alive in our Crop Over today.”
Haynes said that everyone should consider making the trip to the island to celebrate the occasion at least once. In his opinion, there’s nothing like a really Caribbean fete. So what is the run down for Crop Over? Haynes says it’s different from how we celebrate in Toronto.
“We don’t party from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. like in Toronto. We do breakfast parties that go from 3 a.m. and go until 11 a.m. and then brunch parties that start at 11 and go until two.”
“Then afternoon cruises, we have some wicked cruises in Barbados. Then nighttime parties, it’s non-stop action,” Haynes continued.
The team visited some important places in Barbados, including Golden Square Freedom Park and Rihanna Drive, enjoyed even more delicious food, and took in all this island has to offer on this episode of The Brandon Gonez Show! Have you ever been to Barbados? Let us know in the comments!
