Crop Over Festival 2017

As a forever sunny and happy place to be, Barbados spreads the joy even more during their Crop Over Festival. Taking place from May until August, this incredible celebration has something for everyone and really emphasises the Barbadian way of life; full of colour, sun and smiles!

Crop Over Festival 2017

The Crop Over Festival is the most colourful and popular in the Caribbean and attracts thousands of people from all over the globe, including Barbadians who no longer live on the island. 

With origins dating back to the 1780's, the festival has deep set roots and is an important celebration to the people who live here. 

Barbados was the largest producer of sugar in the world, way back in the 18th century. The festival marked the end of a successful sugar cane harvest and became a huge tradition.

In the 1940's, the sugar industry declined sharply along with the success rate of the harvests produced. The Crop Over Festival eventually stopped altogether.

In 1974, the festival was revived and incorporated other Bajan cultural elements, really bringing the island together and showing the world what it was all about. 

Opening Ceremony & Ceremonial Delivery of the Last Canes

Being the very beginning of the celebrations, this is where the King & Queen of the Festival are crowned. This is judged by which male and which female has been the most productive cane cutters of the season.

Bridgetown Market

Running right the way through the festival, this incredible market features local food and beverages as well as arts and crafts to show off the unique Barbadian artistic flair. Calypso and Soca music is a major part of the celebrations and can be heard the whole time. 

Cohobblopot

A huge carnival like show where members of Kadooment bands display their amazing costumes and perform to packed audiences down the coast. 

Kiddies Kadooment

Children will never feel left out of the festivities and have their own mini version where they can show off their costumes and bands and parade for judges.

Calypso

Calypso is a major feature of Barbadian life and the Crop Over Festival.

Organised into tents, the groups are sponsored by Barbados businesses and compete for awards, prizes and coveted titles including 'Party Monarch', 'Sweet Soca Monarch' and 'Pic-O-De-Crop Monarch'.
The Pic-O-De-Crop is held at the Kensington Oval and is followed by the Fore Day Morning Jump Up.

Grand Kadooment

The finale of the festival features an incredible carnival parade featuring large bands in elaborate and often themed costumes. Designers can compete for the 'Designer of the Year' award and audiences are thrilled by the wild music, delicious food and drink and of course, the beach is always close by!

Have we tempted you to visit this Caribbean paradise yet?
Why not talk to one of our specialist Barbados villa & apartment experts today:

+44 (0)1244 62 99 63
enquiries@elegant-barbados.com

Crop Over Festival Guide

As the weather heats up, its time for Crop over Festival, one of the biggest and brightest celebrations in Barbados! This colourful festival spans over the month of July, ending in early August with the incredible 'Grand Kadooment' parade which is filled with elaborately dressed dancers, bright carnival costumes and lively calypso bands. This is definitely one of the most exciting times of year to visit the island with thousands of visitors from around the World coming to join in the famous Bajan celebrations! 

Brief history of Crop Over Festival

Crop Over Festival dates back to the 1780's,when Barbados was the World's largest producer of sugar. At the end over every sugar crop season, the hard working harvesters would have a big celebration to mark another successful sugar cane harvest. 

As the sugar industry declined on the island, so did the celebrations and in the 1940's the festival was completely stopped for nearly 30 years. In 1974, Crop Over Festival was brought back to life by the Barbados Tourism Authority to become a celebration of Bajan culture and its rich history. 

What on during the festival?

The Crop Over Festival runs for 24 days every summer, starting on the second Saturday in July with a colourful parade through Bridgetown. Giant colourful floats, carnival bands and decorated carts ride through the town to the National Stadium where the opening gala is held. Here a sugarcane king and queen are crowned, who used to be chose as the most productive sugar crop workers of the season.

Throughout the 3 weeks, there are various parties, concerts, food festivals and other fun events to be enjoyed. Music is always a central point of the festival with the sound of calypso, soca and steel drums filling the air. 

The last week of the festival is when the more popular events take place. Bridgetown Market Street Fair is a food and music festival with plenty of food stalls, an arts fair (great for souvenirs!), Barbadian cooking contests and calypso music. 


The Big Finale

The finale weekend is the biggest party weekend of the year in Barbados! It starts with the wild Pic-o-de-crop calypso competition finals with extraordinary costumes, body paint and livebands which finishes with a spontaneous street party!  The next morning the Foreday Morning Jam takes place with 3.5km of dancing through the streets. On Sunday you can enjoy the Cohobblopot calypso show from the winners of the Party monarch. 

The Grand Kadooment, which is Bajan for “Big Deal” or “Big Fuss,”where various groups and individuals compete with themed costumes and song for titles including the Calypso Monarch, Road March Monarch, and Sweet Soca Monarch. Here is where you will see the famous pictures of people in headdresses, feather crowns and carnival outfits for the epic parade of live music, fireworks and partying through the night. There's no standing and watching here, so be prepared to dance til dawn!

Guide to the Barbados Food, Wine & Rum Festival 2015

Barbados is fast becoming not only a traveller’s paradise but also a foodie hotspot! Being known as the culinary capital of the Caribbean there are so many local dishes and experimental delights to try on your visit, you could eat somewhere deliciously different for every meal!

As November approaches, excitement in Barbados builds. Not only is it the month in which the island celebrates independence, it's also when they welcome top international chefs to our shores for the annual Barbados Food & Wine and Rum Festival! Last weekend visitors to the festival were treated to several days of the very best international cuisine and cooking demonstrations.

 

The festival is designed to tantalize the taste buds, while offering a variety of other colourful and flavourful experiences to stimulate the other senses as well. Experience a sophisticated, high-quality and upscale celebration of gastronomic art, featuring acclaimed international & local chefs, wine experts and mixologists.

Of course with Barbados being the birthplace of rum, no epicurean festival would be complete without this local spirit. See what goes into making the perfect Barbados Rum Punch and explore where we've been creating some of the world's finest rums for over 350 years!

Here are some pictures to tantalize your tastebuds and give you a flavour of the festival (sorry for the pun)!

Elegant Address Luxury Property Group Wins Another Prestigious Award!

On Friday, 23rd October, Elegant Address Luxury Property Group were shortlisted as regional finalists to the Forward Ladies Women In Business Awards 2015 for the North West of England and the Isle of Man in the 'SME Emerging Business Of The Year’ category.

We were incredibly to win the title of 'SME Emerging Business Of The Year 2015' which is a fantastic accolade in this highly competitive category, against such an inspiring collection of women. The team had a wonderful time at the awards in Manchester and have now qualified into the National Finals which are in Leeds next month.

Last year, at the prestigious ceremony, our Managing Director Suzan Thompson, won two outstanding awards at the ceremony including Property Business Woman of the Year and the overall Business Woman Of the Year 2014 for the whole of the North West. 

The WIBAs, now in its sixth year, has become one of the most high profile and respected accolades for women recognising their enormous contribution to the economy and acknowledges start-ups to multi-million pound companies.

We would like to say a big thank you to the Forward Ladies judges and organisers of the event, we had a fabulous time! We would also like to take a moment to say we are hugely proud of our dedicated, professional team of ladies who deliver the highest level of personal service and knowledge to every client, and have a true passion for their work and areas we offer. Congratulations to the team and bring on the nationals!

We made a short celebratory video of our MD collecting the award at the Forward Ladies Awards.

If you would like our award winning team to find you THE address in Barbados, European Alps or The South Of France we can offer the very best, luxury villa rentals and hotels in the region. With exclusive, VIP access and concierge services, we offer our clients a tailor-made luxury holiday rental experience.

Call your dedicated, luxury regional specialists today: +44 (0)1244 629963