Photography by Anthony A. Walsh Kadooment in Barbados, B.W.I., 1997

Kadooment, 1997 Road March to Spring Garden, August 4th, Barbados, B.W.I.

CROPOVER & the GRAND KADOOMENT CARNIVAL PARADE are the cultural high point for the year on the beautiful island of Barbados. GRAND KADOOMENT for 1997 took place on Monday, August 4th that year, despite inclement weather. Thousands of people marched in various size groups, known locally as "bands." Each "band" followed its own sound truck, dressed in similar themed costumes, and "jumped" (or "jumped up"--danced & paraded) from the National Stadium to Spring Garden to sometimes ear shattering but enchanting "Soca" rhythms, especially those of that year's most popular bands, Krosfyah and Square One. As the Barbados Advocate described it the next day, "Thousands of 'soca warriors' came out to 'pelt waist' and be robbed of their...worries"(refering to part of the lyrics of Krosfyah's hit, "Highway Robbery." Krosfyah's "Highway Robbery" was one of the top twenty songs at Cropover, 1998 also.). For our 1997 trip to Barbados, the "Little Bay Hotel" in St. Lawrence Gap was home(see above) and the neighborhood's principle gathering place was the "rum shop"--one of perhaps 1200 in Barbados--called "The Watering Hole". For links to more general information on the islands of the Caribbean, including Barbados, the MIT Caribbean Club Homepage is a good place to start. A link to this site, moreover, was recently added to the MIT Caribbean Club Cultural Links page. Check it out. Also, be sure to visit Stephen Mendes' Barbados Photo Gallery for more images of this beautiful island nation--including Cropover & Kadooment, 1997--by someone who lives there. Finally, for the true soca addict, regular visits to the BAJAN CALYPSO BARN are mandatory. This extraordinary site--"The BIGGEST soca site on the internet"--has all the latest news, the largest collection of related links, an enormous photo gallery, audio...EVERYTHING you need to keep up with the Calypso-Soca-Bajan-Caribbean scene. Don't miss it.