Visiting Barbados During Crop Over Festival

Thinking of visiting Barbados during Crop Over Festival? Check out my tips before you go! I was fortunate to make it to Crop Over Festival in 2022 during the big “Year of the Return” after being cancelled the previous 2 years due to COVID. And boy was it worth the wait! Many of the Caribbean Islands host their own Carnival – Trinidad and Tobago host “The Mother of Carnival,” Bahamas hosts “Junkanoo” and Grenada hosts “Spicemas Festival.” After looking into many carnivals, I decided to visit Barbados!

If you didn’t search the term “crop over festival” to find this blog post and stumbled upon it randomly, let me introduce what it is. The Crop Over Festival is a 3 month-long festival of Barbadian music, arts, food, culture and so much more. Barbados ends the festivities with a grand carnival parade known as Kadooment Day. The Grand Kadooment is known as the biggest and sweetest carnival to end the Caribbean’s carnival season in August each year. This 200 year-old tradition honors the end of the sugar cane season. Historically, it takes place on the 1st Monday in August. So mark your calendar for the next one! Now, here are my top tips – so keep reading!

Bring Cash

One of my biggest mistakes was underestimating how much cash I would need. I constantly went to the ATM (which has added fees). Because there are no Uber/Lyft services in the country you’re reliant on public transportation (buses and taxis) and they require cash. Also – some of the food stands along the beach like Cuzz’s fish stand only accepts cash. So be prepared! And you will definitely want several bottles of water during the Grand Kadooment standing under the heat.

Follow the Website for Updates

You will definitely want to follow the official website of Barbados Crop Over: https://ncf.bb/crop-over/. Join their mailing list so you can stay tuned for any updates! You will see the event dates and times for the entire 3-month duration. But again, even though this festival is a 3-month long celebration, the big Grand Kadooment is only on the first Monday in August. So ideally, you’ll want to be there for that. The biggest events to look out for are:

• Foreday morning – takes place on the Friday night/ Saturday morning before Grand Kadooment, which is the final weekend of Crop Over Barbados. The whole point of this party is to get dirty. Most bands give you a t-shirt to wear, grab an old pair of shorts and you are all set. This is like the warm up for Kadooment day. These bands start at around midnight and go along their routes until they end at around 7am ish. You follow a big truck down the road which has music and there is a drinks truck for all your booze needs. There is paint and mud that is thrown around all night, if you are clean you are doing it wrong! – A wonderful tip from The Wandering Bajan!
• Soca on de Hill – This was a concert that took place the day after the Grand Kadooment. It was from 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM and featured famous Soca bands. If you really enjoy the music and want to hear actual artists, this is your chance!

Book and Plan Early

Before visiting Barbados During Crop Over, you will of course need to book and plan your trip months in advance. This will ensure reasonable prices and plenty of availability. Book your trip to Barbados with me and I can lock you in with just a small deposit of $265 per person (remaining balance due 45 days before departure). Shoot me an email at cassandra@accent-on-travel.net if you’d like a quote!

In addition to booking your flights and accommodations early, you also need to consider booking any BARBADOS TOURS you’d like to participate in early as well to ensure availability. You’ll definitely want to visit the Barbados Wildlife Reserve so you can see adorable monkeys!

Join a Band to Wear your Costume

Ladies, I’m sure you have seen the amazing costumes at the Barbados Crop Over festival! If you want to participate, you should know that you have to purchase them through the individual Crop Over bands. You will pre-pay before you arrive and then pick up your costume on the day of the Grand Kadooment. I ended up finding Betty West Band and was supposed to “jump” with them; however, I couldn’t find the location to meet up with them so I ended up watching and cheering everyone on from the sidelines. At the time of this post, there are 14 bands to choose from:

• Aura Experience
• Betty West Band
• Colorz Entertainment
• Envy Mas
• Eunoia Mas
• Khepri Kulture
• Kontact Band
• Krave the Band
• Passion Vybz Kadooment Band
• Power By Four
• Rara of Leogane Haiti
• Romp International
• Wednesday 2000
• Zulu International Inc.

If you do plan on jumping, make sure you know what time and where to be to meet the band. You’re essentially a “hype man” or “hype woman” and there to represent that band. So come super energetic and if you need a little rum to get you going in the morning there is plenty! Feel free to get as glammed up and over the top as you want. No one will judge you – this is your time to shine!

Learn Soca Music

If you’re not already familiar with Soca bands, I recommend listening to some different artists and songs before you arrive. I really wish I had done that, because I REALLY loved the music when I went there. The cab drivers were all playing it. I have a few songs in my head just from my trip.

🎵🎵I’M DRINKING RUM… NO WATER….🎵🎵

Stay Hydrated

Make sure you stay hydrated because that sun is BRUTAL! The Grand Kadooment festival takes place on the main ABC Highway and there are only a few select trees offering shade. You’ll be able to spot the locals, because they are the smart ones with camper chairs, coolers of water and snacks, and perched under trees. The tourists will be out in the blazing sun (such as myself), trying to make the best of it. With the recommendation of staying hydrated, you will also want to wear a hat and put on tons of sunscreen.

Book A Full Week

While you will of course want to be here for the biggest festivities of the season, you will need a few days on the front end or the back end to just relax. Maybe you want to sightsee while you’re here as well. Maybe you’ll want to walk down Rihanna Way and see where Rihanna grew up. Or, perhaps, you’ll want to swim with the turtles in Carlisle Bay. My husband and I had our relaxation on the front end of the trip, but I recommend putting some relaxation time on the back end of the trip so you have some days to unwind. Especially if you are planning to join ALL of the festivities including the Foreday morning. It’s a lot of GO, GO, GO!

Budget and Save

This is definitely what I would consider a “splurge” trip – especially if you’re used to paying prices for Jamaica and Dominican Republic. Barbados is absolutely without a doubt one of the more expensive Caribbean islands. The first 3 nights, my husband and I stayed at Sandals Barbados and the last 3 nights we stayed at another all inclusive resort called Savannah Beach Club. Full disclosure, I redeemed free nights with Sandals, so I only had to pay for Savannah Beach Club stay + flights but we still spent over $3,500 for just flights + Savannah Beach Club for the 3 nights. We also purchased tours & excursions and food off the resorts. This trip was magical and worth every penny, but we still had to budget and save for it! Remember when you book with me, payment plans are available!

What started off as a way for hard working Bajans to celebrate the end of harvest season, Crop Over has gone on to become one of the biggest and TOP Carnivals in the Caribbean. What are you waiting for? Book that trip!

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Planning your trip to Barbados?

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