The Ministry of Culture is embarking on a significant transformation of the Crop Over festival, aiming to strike a balance between its revelry and rich heritage. Minister with responsibility for Culture in the Prime Minister’s Office, Senator Dr Shantal Munro-Knight, revealed that extensive consultations are underway to reshape the festival for the future.
“Since last year, we would have been engaging several of the stakeholders to think about how we can redesign Crop Over and have a festival that is not about a year, but what a Crop Over would look like 10 or 15 years from now. So we would be unveiling that kind of rethinking of the festival based on those inputs,” she stated at the official media launch of The Season Of Emancipation 2025 at The Rock Hall Freedom Village, St Thomas.
However, Munro-Knight acknowledged the challenges ahead, particularly in integrating heritage elements into contemporary celebrations. “There are challenges around Kadooment and how we ground heritage and heritage costuming when customer demand is perhaps otherwise-more feathers and what they call ‘pretty mas’. So how do we contend with that movement and make sure that it still have a focus heritage which was part of the evolution of Kadooment as well?” she questioned.
She also highlighted the need to ensure heritage remains central amidst the growing popularity of large-scale events. “How do we make sure that we contend with the development of event producers and mass-based events and make sure that we still have events that are about showcasing and celebrating heritage and make sure that there is equal attention to that? How do we ground it within schools as well? Those traditional things like costume making. How do we make sure that we have a generation that understands that art and that it doesn’t become lost but that it grows and moves forward.”
“Those are some of the big conversations that we have been having around how the Crop Over season will evolve for 2025 and we are hoping very soon to come to the public and unveil that design for this year,” Munro-Knight added.
In addition to Crop Over, the Ministry is also focusing on expanding the impact of the Season of Emancipation, moving beyond simple commemorations. “It is about grounding an intersection with past, now and future within communities and within the wider Barbadian psyche that we need to move beyond the chorus of those of us who understand, those of us who are enthused, those of us who have already embraced the notion of emancipation and that journey and what it means to bring all Barbadians into a wider understanding,” she explained.
The ministry plans to launch an educational campaign to raise awareness of Barbados’ historical significance.
Looking ahead, Munro-Knight also highlighted the upcoming Carifesta event, scheduled for Barbados from August 22 to 31. She described it as potentially one of the “biggest” in the region, with significant interest from the diaspora, including India, Brazil, and Africa. (JB)
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