Some Kiddies Kadooment bandleaders are calling for more sponsorship support to guarantee a future for the jump-up.
With the 2025 Sunshine And Affinity Plus Junior Kadooment
on for today at the National Botanical Gardens in Waterford, St Michael, bandleader of Xanté, Nanette Worrell, said one of the biggest challenges was finding sponsors.
“My sister and I have reached out to almost every institution in Barbados and everyone turned us down,” she told the Saturday Sun.
“From 2017 to 2019, I was the one putting out all my money towards all the costumes . . . . We used up everything I had, and my sister is the one who pushed me to be here today; she is using her pension now to see this through, so sponsorship is the main challenge.”
Bandleader of The Lend A Hand Community Band, Nykeba Oni, also spoke of the difficulties securing financial support.
“We have to look at different ways of funding the band, like raising money. I have had a lot of issues with sponsorship this year. We used to get sponsorship, but it is hard to get [it] now, so you see the cost of living is affecting everything.”
She said Kiddies Kadooment was not as profitable as it once was, but it stimulates her as a creative.
“ Kiddies Kadooment does not make money, it breaks even. So with things going up, it is a challenge,” Oni added.
Both bandleaders are expecting close to 170 children to participate today.
“I’m most looking forward to being across the stage, the kids having a good time and it being finished,” Oni said.
“It’s a lot of work and you get a release when it’s done . . . . I hope that people understand what we do and I hope that they enjoy it.”
Under the theme Bajan Urban Legends, The Lend A Hand Community Band is expecting around 70 children, which features sections concentrating on traditions and events that occurred post-slavery.
“We are looking at Barbados as a free society and the new traditions that came out of that,” Oni said.
Xanté’s focus on Folk Fusion aims to highlight the different folk characters and songs of Barbadian history.
“This year was much harder in getting some of the children on board because most of the children were travelling, but we have the same number of children that we had last year,” Worrell said. “It was a little late in coming, but we have them now.”
As the band prepares to host 96 children to play mas’, specifically dancers in the Dancin’ Africa programme, she said they were feeling nervous but excited for the festivities.
(SE)
