Next: 2 Aug 2027
Crop Over
Barbados ends the sugar harvest with Grand Kadooment, a day of costumed bands dancing to the sea.
What is danced for Crop Over
Crop Over began on the sugar estates of Barbados in the 1780s, as the feast at the end of the cane harvest. It was revived in 1974 and now fills the weeks of summer. The last day, Grand Kadooment, is the first Monday of August. Bands of revellers in feathers and beads dance along the road behind music trucks, to calypso and soca. Stilt walkers stride among them. The Barbados Landship also takes part. Its members dress as naval crews and perform drill-like dances, some round a maypole, to the drums and penny whistle of a tuk band.
The dances
Written by the Ghungroo desk with AI assistance. Background: "Crop Over" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mocko jumbie: COD Newsroom, CC BY 2.0, source
- Barbados Land-ship: Ronaldwalcott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source