Dance in the streets at this Barbados festival

By Lena Katz

See, folks, this is why we take Caribbean vacations. Not for white sand beaches, excellent snorkeling, rum, reggae or duty-free emeralds. But for parties and festivals we’ve never heard of — never even imagined — with names straight out of Willy Wonka and celebrants in costumes and body paint.

Grand Koodement Day is actually the grand finale of Barbados‘ biggest and most popular annual festival, Crop Over. A traditional event based around the historic sugar cane harvest, Crop Over comprises five weeks of live music, dance, parties and carnival-esque fun. On this final day, schools and businesses shut down, and all the people in the island don costumes and dance in the streets to Caribbean soca calypso. The date is August 4th, but August 3rd is also worth attending—it’s the annual Kings and Queens of Crop Over costume showcase, officially known as Cohobblopot. (Yup, I love that name too.)

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