Are you planning your trip to Barbados for Crop Over Festival? You won’t want to miss being there for Grand Kadooment Day. The Crop Over Festival is a 3-month long festival featuring Bajan music, arts, culture, and more. It is a 200 + year old tradition that honors the end of the sugar cane season. This multi-month festival celebrates all that is Bajan with dusk till dawn parties, arts and crafts markets, and of course street fares.
Grand Kadooment Day celebrates the end of Crop Over, where Masquerade Bands make their way to ABC highway (formerly Spring Garden Highway) with revelers dressed in sequin costumes and colorful outfits. Given that I just returned, I wanted to share some tips for anyone planning their trip. Of course, please feel free to email me (cassandra@accent-on-travel.net) if you’d like a vacation quote to Barbados with a flexible payment. Now, let’s get into the details of Grand Kadooment Day!
When Is It
Grand Kadooment Day takes place on the first Monday in August each year (minus the years 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic). I had the exciting opportunity to be there this year in 2022, the year of the “GREAT RETURN.” The event starts early morning at the National Stadium. The bands traverse the local city streets ending on ABC highway late in the afternoon.
Crop Over Festival Events
While the Grand Kadooment Festival is by far the biggest event of Crop Over, you’ll want to plan your trip there to enjoy other popular events of Crop Over as well. Foreday Morning took place the Saturday before the Grand Kadooment. It was for the night owls and took place from Midnight until 8:00 in the morning. It’s one big party where there is color thrown, and even mud. Don’t bring any nice clothes to this – and be sure to bring something white so you can enjoy the colors to the fullest! There was also a concert available the day after Grand Kadooment called Soca on de Hill, which was from 11AM – 8PM. Tons of famous Soca artists and I felt the ticket was a good value ($75 USD per person).
I recommend following the official website for Crop Over. That way you are aware of the event lineup for the year: https://ncf.bb/crop-over/. Some bloggers mentioned the importance of pre-purchasing tickets. I didn’t find that to be the case in 2022 – I was able to purchase tickets to Soca on de Hill day before the event. However… that might not be typical. So I do recommend pre-booking as much as you can afford before arriving to the island.
Plan for the Day
Given that event takes place in August, it will be a scorcher! The main highway (ABC) will also be blocked off to traffic,. See below for my tips to help you plan for the day:
- Hail a cab to take you to the closest entry point to watch the festival
- Wear a hat
- Bring cash for taxi, bottled water, and food
- Wear sunscreen
- Get festive! If you don’t want to officially “jump” with one of the bands you can still look cute from the sideline as you cheer the bands on
- Take lots of photos
- Bring a bag to carry things in – some people were walking around giving out goodies (free condoms anyone??)
Get Familiar with Soca Music
If you really want to prep for this day, get familiar with Soca music (if you aren’t already). You might hear a song you recognize out there.
Ordering Your Costume
The biggest question I had (and couldn’t seem to find) was about pre-ordering costumes. You will order your costume with an individual band. You can find the list of bands on the official Crop Over website I linked above. I naively thought I could simply wear a costume and go on my merry way. NOPE! If you commit to buying the costume, you must “jump” with the band. Jumping means you will be participating and hyping up the band that you purchase the costume from. You are there to represent the band.
When you purchase a costume from the individual band, it typically includes hot breakfast in the morning, a hydration station as you walk the highway, and drinks (including alcoholic)! You have to stay energized and hydrated somehow, right?! I ended up purchasing my costume through Betty West Band, and went to her actual house to pick it up. My husband probably thought I was crazy telling him “I found someone on WhatsApp and need to go to their house and pick up my costume.” Luckily, he was up for the adventure. I’ll show a sneak peek of my costume for the day of. I had some photos taken on the beach near our resort, Savannah Beach Club.
Build In R&R Days
Maybe this is because I’m 33 years old at the time of this post (and a mom to an infant), but I just can’t party like I used to. I need ample sleep to recharge my batteries properly. It’s so important to build in time for R&R after the Grand Kadooment event. Also – flights are pretty pricey the day after Grand Kadooment because that’s when many people leaving the island. Take a few days after (if you can afford the PTO time) to just rejuvenate after all of this partying in the hot sun.
Overall, it was a great time and I’m grateful this is another trip I can cross off my bucket list. Are you planning your trip to Barbados? Please get in touch with me as I can assist you with planning from A to Z with an affordable and flexible payment plan for the air + hotel package (cassandra@accent-on-travel.net).
Heading to Barbados?
