The Crop Over Festival

Crop Over is the biggest and most exuberant festival in Barbados, a vibrant celebration with roots stretching back centuries to the joyous festivities that once marked the end of the island's sugar-cane harvest. Reborn as a national cultural extravaganza, it unfolds over several weeks of the summer with calypso and soca competitions, lively fetes, craft markets and pageants. It all builds to a spectacular climax on Grand Kadooment Day, when costumed revellers in dazzling feathers and sequins fill the streets in a joyous, music-fuelled carnival parade.

The main sights

• Grand Kadooment - the dazzling costumed street parade finale.
• The calypso and soca - the music competitions and tents.
• The fetes - the lively parties across the season.
• The Bridgetown Market - the craft and food street fair.

When to go

Crop Over runs through the summer, roughly from June, building to its climax with Grand Kadooment usually on the first Monday of August; the weeks beforehand are packed with fetes and competitions. Book flights and accommodation ahead, as the festival draws visitors from across the diaspora and the world.

What to expect

Like all great carnivals, Crop Over is best experienced as a participant rather than a bystander, and the marquee events, playing mas in a costumed band or attending the big fetes, cost money and sell out, while accommodation is pricier in peak season. It is hot, crowded and high-energy. As Barbados's most joyous cultural expression, born of its sugar heritage and pulsing with soca, though, it is a spectacular and unforgettable time to visit.

Nearby

Bridgetown, the Garrison and the west-coast beaches host the festivities.