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 Grenada instead or I’m gonna go to St Lucia’. Our band in St Lucia just launched and we already have almost 300 costumes sold in St Lucia because
there’s a two-day experience.
“If we just did a little bit of those things, we can reclaim our space as being one of the top destinations in this game.”
Despite the high costs of putting a band on the road, the director said they will continue to do it because of their love for Barbados.
“We go to other places but we don’t have the same cost, infrastructure cost. I know what I’m making when I leave there. In Barbados, there are a lot of variables – I have trucks, I have employees, I have workers. We spend a lot of money to get the same job done here and we enjoy doing it because it is home,” he said.
This year Krave is hoping to take about 1 200 masqueraders on the road for Grand Kadooment.
Sections are
Leviathan marketed by Gen X Carnival;
Ursula – Queen Of The Deep marketed by Bajan Tube and Spinny;
Ceto – Goddess of Sea Monsters marketed by Exodus Carnivals;
Pteroini marketed by David Dewer; Syren marketed by Tipsy Monkey; Sunken Treasures marketed by Eustace Mas and Koi which is being marketed by Lila Nikole.
Krave is marketing The Blue Lagoon – The Mermaids Paradise, the male section Draykos and Atlantia. (TG)
