LET?THE?MUSIC?play, it will not be for an entire night.
That is the view of Adriel Brathwaite Attorney General and Home Affairs minister as he reacted to a report that some members of the public were concerned about the noise level coming from a calypso tent.
Brathwaite, who did not identify the tent nor its location, said he could not support anyone who was objecting to the staging of tent.
He was speaking at the launch of the House Of Soca 2014 calypso tent season at the Pure Ocean Restaurant, St Lawrence last Friday.
“Tents are only once a year, it is a season; the average tent finishes about 12 midnight . . . I really cannot support anyone taking objection to the staging of calypso tents, which are integral to our Crop Over season.”
He said he was “not encouraging noise and disturbance of neighbourhoods, but we need a bit more cooperation because there can be no Crop Over without music and there can be no Crop Over without tents.”
The Attorney General, who was speaking before his Cabinet colleague Stephen Lashley delivered the main address, confessed that he was a lover of calypso and Crop Over.
The St Philip South Member of Parliament also appealed for more Barbadians to patronise the tents because of the challenges managers had in pulling them off annually.
“When you speak to the average calypsonian, they tell you they [sing] for the love of the music and love of Crop Over because if they sit down and look at it [performing] commercially, many of them would not want to spend their Friday and Saturday nights at practice and shows,” said Brathwaite.
He said the hard work and sacrifice of House Of Soca had not gone unnoticed and lauded the contributions of those sponsors who, in spite of the harsh economic times, were supporting House Of Soca and all other tents.
“We want more sponsors to come on board, because Crop Over is our thing,” he said.
He also welcomed House Of Soca as a organisation that puts the development of its people out front and not only about staging a show.
Brathwaite also endorsed the tent’s effort in creating linkages with entities overseas.
“We need to let our young people know that it is not only about Barbados, but that they can take their talents to the world,” he said.
