A bandleader says he believes the Crop Over Festival is losing out by not having a two-day jump for Grand Kadooment masqueraders. Director of Krave The Band Avery Hackett said the one-day jam makes the experience less competitive. “We have done the research.
We’re in ten countries, so we see what the other countries are doing. We need to get Barbados as a whole to offer the twoday experience in some capacity. “If the Government can’t do it, we as band owners should come together and facilitate that to make it happen because that’s what separates us,” he said on Saturday during Krave’s Kadooment and Foreday Morning band launch at Limegrove Lifestyle Centre, Holetown, St James.
The theme this year is Secrets Of The Abyss. Krave’s brand Reign Jouvert will be bringing Erotica to Foreday 2025. Hackett said other islands have developed their festivals to offer more value for money to some international masqueraders.
“Barbados will tell you, we have the ‘perfect island’. We have the best beaches and the best vacation location, yes, but the paying customer is looking at the bottom line these days. “They want to know that if I spend $1 000 in Barbados, Trinidad or in St Lucia, or Grenada, the services that they receive are on par and where we fall short is we don’t have two days.
Grenada’s got five carnivals in two days. St Lucia and Jamaica all have their two days and for the same price point,” he said. “So people will leave and say, ‘I’m gonna go .