CEO’s Remarks at Awards

The Success of the Festival is a team effort

Another season is over and depending on your role for the Festival you might be revelling in its successes, looking forward to some downtime now that it is all over, or putting the wheels in motion for Crop Over 2015. Whatever your contribution to the Festival, Mr. Cranston Browne, Chief Executive Officer of the NCF says thank you for a job well done. He made the comment at the recently concluded Crop Over Awards Ceremony, held at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination (EBCCI).

As the man at the helm of the organisation charged with the annual production of this eight-week long Festival, Mr. Browne expressed pride in the commitment and dedication of not only the NCF team, but also that of the many men and women who for a couple months out of the year give yeoman service to ensure the success of the Barbados Crop Over Festival.

It is no secret to those working close to the Festival that the planning process for the upcoming year begins immediately and according to Mr. Browne, the NCF has already begun the preparatory stages of the 2015 installation of the Crop Over Festival with a focus on the stakeholder review and consultative sessions.

The 2014 calendar was launched as an intended three-year plan which would allow the Foundation to announce the coming year’s activities even earlier. The official dates of the 2015 Festival were later announced as Sunday, May 24 – Monday, August 3, 2015.

In speaking about the role of the NCF in the Barbados Crop Over Festival, the NCF boss said, “As with any of the other programmes and activities under the Foundation’s purview the organisation’s role is developmental, providing opportunities for the exposure of local creative practitioners on a national stage. The Foundation also assumes the role of a guardian of our cultural heritage, in this case ensuring the preservation of many of our festival traditions for generations to come.”

Mr. Browne mentioned that the NCF often finds itself in a delicate balance of tradition vs. evolution, culture vs. commercial due to the dynamic nature of the cultural industry and is generally faced with conversations regarding the future of traditional mas’ – the preservation of costuming; making it more attractive to a younger audience, thus stimulating a similar level of growth to that of the Foreday Morning Jam; and extended discussions regarding its current format. These and other topics will form the basis for the discussions over the next few months with the respective stakeholder representatives, in an effort to revitalise the Grand Kadooment product.

The NCF CEO concluded by thanking many of the contributors to the Festival including the Sanitation Service Authority for their excellent support cleaning up after each event; the disaster management, medical and other support teams who are always ready when needed; along with the many partners/sponsors who see the vision and understand the importance of this national Festival. Their input is not only significant from a cultural perspective, but it also impacts heavily on this country’s economic landscape during the summer months, stimulating business, attracting tourists and by extension contributing to our foreign exchange reserves.