Talk:Crop over

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Crop Over is Barbados' biggest festival, having had it’s early beginnings on the sugar cane plantations during the colonial period .Originally a celebration signaling the end of the yearly sugar cane harvest , it has since evolved into a National Festival rivaling New Orleans Mardis Gras and Carnival in Trinidad. Beginning in June it runs until the first Monday in August when it culminates in the finale, The Grand Kadooment.

For the entire two months life for many islanders is one big party with a major feature of Crop Over being the Calypso Competition . Calypso music with it’s syncopated rhythm and topical lyrics gives it’s exponents the ideal medium in which to satirise local politics and comment on the issues of the day, while taking nothing away from the general bacchanal. Every week sees one fete after another as the island follows the fortunes of the calypso crown contenders . Night after night calypso tents feature their cadre of calypsonians and patrons are treated to biting social commentaries on the happenings of the past year , political exposé’s or rousing exhortations to ‘wuk dah waistline’ and ,roll dat bumper’. Every form of media is devoted to the holy grail of the road to the stadium and the Party Monarch or Calypso Crown. There are craft markets , food tents and stalls , street parties and cavalcades every week supplemented by daily events at Tim’s on the Highway the new home of the Barbados Cropover Festival.

This annual event provides visitors and locals alike an excellent opportunity to experience the best the island has to offer in food , music , craft and culture .