Good start to Crop-Over

THE NEW CONCEPT behind the BNB Crop-Over Opening Gala was so successful, there are plans to expand it over two days.Minister of Culture, Steven Blackett, who toured the gala and attended the various events, said the “massive infrastructural outlay” of the revamped event was too much for a single day.“I thought the NCF [National Cultural Foundation] did an excellent job with the new concept and the response has been quite good. I plan to suggest to them whether they can focus on a two-day event in the future, culminating with a large concert,” he said.Blackett identified the repositioning of the stages and the offering of a greater variety of entertainment genres as some of the changes.The gala which took place last Saturday in Queen’s Park and showcased a wide variety of attractions, such as customised cars by Rezult Auto Shop; digital gaming by Komik Kraze; hip hop dance; a catwalk fashion show; medicinal herbs; African dance; clowns; puppetry; a dance hall; DJ demonstrations and more.One participant, Marcille Haynes, had her Caribbean Kitchen Art on display. The NIFCA awarded photographer said the concept was to take the “flowers from the foods we eat” and transform them into art such as place mats, cloth napkins and aprons.The gala ended with a number of performances on the main stage from the likes of Terencia TC Coward, who celebrated her birthday Saturday; RPB; Dancin’ Africa; Masala and Philip 7,  to name a few. (CA)