CAR 7 27/1/10 10:43 Page 2
knowledge caribbean
ttglive.com
Barbados
The pick of the crop
Rupert Murray got into the groove in Barbados for “Crop Over” – the island’s biggest
annual festival – when he visited Almond Beach Club & Spa
I
T’S not often a man jumping up and tion, without the phone-in cash cow element, to have a good time. The complexity of some
down waving a red plastic bag around is one of the highlights of the three-week of the outfits is all that betrays the amount
his head will stare at you as if you’re long Crop Over festival – a three-week long of effort that goes into an affair which feels
the maniac. Even rarer is a crowd of festival. The festival dates back to the 1780s like an impromptu party thrown together by
several thousand sane people sharing this when Barbados was one of the biggest sugar a very happy island.
philosophy and regarding my lack of said cane producers in the world and the end of This sense of fun allows men and women
bag with equal dismay. the harvest was always celebrated in style. of a shape not traditionally considered
And so it was one fine August evening in Nowadays Crop Over begins in early July suitable for semi-clad public consumption
the Barbados Kensington Oval I found with an opening gala which has traditionally to line up alongside the “beautiful” people
myself throwing British reserve to the featured the delivery of the last canes. with no hint of aesthetical hierarchy. Gok
wind, grabbing a stray red plastic bag and Throughout the festival, a street market is Wan would have very little to do here –
becoming living proof of Wesley Snipes’ pitched in the middle of Bridgetown with persuading women they can all look good
most famous of assertions. This white man hundreds of stalls offering a rich array of naked is simply not an in-demand service.
can’t jump. Not with any sense of rhythm or Bajan cooking and local handicrafts. Don’t get drawn into the Kadooment parade
style anyway. But that didn’t seem to matter unless you have no desire to get out of it in a
to my, now happy, observer. He grinned and Clans of colour hurry, but there are few better ways to spend
turned back towards the stage, content that I On the first Monday of August the climax a day in the Caribbean.
was showing the proper respect for the man of the festival takes over the streets in an
who had just strolled on to the stage. explosion of colour and costume which has
tourists with even the largest of camera
BOOK IT
Red plastic bag memory cards wishing they’d brought a
Virgin Holidays has seven nights all-inclusive at
Musician Stedson Wiltshire aka Red Plastic spare. Entitled Kadooment Day, it is the Almond Beach Club & Spa in Barbados.from £1,359
Bag had been crowned calypso monarch at single biggest event of the calendar and as
per person including Gatwick flights and transfers,
the annual Pic-O-De-Crop talent competition such is marked with a national holiday.
based on two adults sharing a standard room.
Based on departures from April 12 to July 8
a record eight times. And a couple of hours Clans of colour follow each other for miles
■
vhols4agents.co.uk
later it was nine. The X Factor-style competi- in no particular rush or purpose other than
40 29.01.2010
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