Chief Executive Officer of National Cultural Foundation (NCF), Carol Roberts-Reifer.
According to Chief Executive Officer Of National Cultural Foundation (NCF), Carol Roberts-Reifer, the Crop Over Festival “went quite well”.
She is giving the Crop Over Festival a passing grade noting that despite being in a year of economic restructuring and recovery, informal sectors were still able to earn a living due to the cultural activity.
The Head Of The Cultural Organisation spoke about the outcome of the national festival to The Barbados Advocate at the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on Wednesday.
She reminded Barbadians that the Crop Over Festival was held without one serious incident and this is worthy of celebration.
She added that another success was the ability to hire and pay a wide cross-section of artists and artistes.
Visitor arrivals for the season ‘healthy’
The NCF’s CEO admitted that did not have the final numbers of visitors who arrived for the national festival but she was told they are “quite healthy and on par with last year’s”. On the point of changes made for Crop Over, Reifer said she wanted Barbadians to give them a fair assessment with as much knowledge as possible without any “knee jerk” reactions.
She wanted Barbadians to acknowledge that with the Pic-O-De-Crop competition which was marked by its “one song” concept had a larger audience turnout on finals night than in the past. The CEO also noted that more calypsonians registered for the event. “What brought these people out? The competition, the healthy tension, the suspense as to who was going to win – acknowledge these things. You don’t have to agree with us but
acknowledge that this change brought about this,” said Reifer.
She made a similar comparison about Soca Monarch Competition and its changes. The NCF head indicated that looking to the future, there will be a review of the festival which will create solutions for the people who work in the cultural sector.
