Pearly Is Ready for Crop Over: Latest Update Lets Barbadians Track Grand Kadooment Bands Live and Send Their Vibe to the Broadcast

First-of-its-kind integrated carnival experience brings together live band tracking, proximity information, band profiles and real-time audience reactions

Tomorrow, Grand Kadooment spectators will be able to follow the bands along the parade route live, see how far away the action is and send their support directly into the live broadcast experience through the latest update of the Pearly app.

The new experience brings technology and festival culture together in a practical, engaging way. People on and around the route can use Pearly to see participating bands move across a live map, tap a band icon to view information about that band and use the new “Vibe Check” to show their support as the band approaches or passes.

Each Vibe Check sends a heart animation through Pearly’s live event system. Those reactions also feed into the live broadcast channel, allowing the energy and support coming from spectators to be reflected through broadcast graphics and band information overlays.

This is the first carnival experience to combine live, band-level route tracking, spectator proximity, interactive audience reactions and direct integration with a live broadcast in one connected platform.

Download or Update Pearly Before Grand Kadooment

Anyone planning to use the feature tomorrow should make sure the latest version of Pearly is installed before heading to the route.

1.⁠ ⁠New users: Download the free Pearly app.

2.⁠ ⁠Existing users: Open the App Store or Google Play and update Pearly to the latest version.

3.⁠ ⁠Open Pearly and select Events from the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.

4.⁠ ⁠Select Grand Kadooment to open the live event map.

5.⁠ ⁠Follow bands as they move along the route. With location services enabled, Pearly will show where the user is in relation to the band and how far away it is.

6.⁠ ⁠Tap a band icon to see its information.

7.⁠ ⁠Tap the heart to send a Vibe Check, support a favourite band and help light up the live broadcast.

“The feature is designed to answer one of the biggest questions spectators have on Grand Kadooment Day: “How close is the next band?” It also turns spectators from passive viewers into active participants, whether they are following the action in Pearly, standing along the route or watching the live broadcast. ” Carol Roberts, Chief Executive Officer of the National Cultural Foundation.

Barbadian Technology Powering the Festival

The experience is powered by Touchstar Group, Official Technology Partner of the Crop Over Festival.

Its live tracking infrastructure is supported by a state-of-the-art, island-wide resilient Internet of Things network being deployed by Touchstar Group in partnership with the Government of Barbados. The network is designed to provide a low-power, wide-area communications layer that does not rely solely on conventional mobile connectivity. Beyond festival operations, this infrastructure is being developed to strengthen digital service delivery, connected public infrastructure and national emergency resilience.

This deployment demonstrates how locally developed technology can support culture, public participation and resilient national infrastructure at the same time.

“Crop Over has always been powered by people, and our role is to use technology to bring people even closer to the experience. With Pearly, spectators can know what is coming, learn more about every band and send their energy back into the live broadcast through Vibe Check. It is Barbadian technology helping Barbados celebrate in a new way,” said Ramon Dummett, Chief Executive Officer of Touchstar Group.

Grand Kadooment, the finale of the 2026 Crop Over Festival, takes place on Monday, August 3, 2026. (PR)