Bajans continue to pour into the island for Crop Over.
At the Grantley Adams International Airport last Friday people who had not met for a few years greeted each other with hugs and kisses.
As their three-year-old son Ezekiel repeatedly asked for “some Chefette [chicken]”, Barbadian Duran Doughlin, who flew in from the Big Apple with his American wife Shavonn, said it felt good “to be in Barbados for such a fantastic festival”.
Doughlin, who has come home for the festival in the last three years, boasted of all the events he intended to attend.
He said he had started purchasing tickets in New York since May.
He said his wife might be restricted to “just standing and watching” and probably rocking to the music. “Every time she comes for the festival, she is pregnant,” he said.
He told the SUNDAY SUN that even though the festival had become more commercialized, “I like that the cultural aspect is still there and it still holds the essence of what Crop Over is still about”.
Cynthia Bennett, who put knee surgery on hold to be in Barbados, said she would never miss Crop Over, even if she had to settle for a little piece. The American with Barbadian ancestry said she had been coming here for the last 30 years.
“I pushed the surgery back until the 18th of August,” she said.
“So when I go back I have to go in for a knee replacement. If I had known that Bag wasn’t singing in the Pic-O-De-Crop Finals, I would have stayed home. Just kidding – I could never miss Crop-Over.”
Bennett, who lives in New York, added: “I am trying to become a citizen of Barbados but they say I am too old to gain citizenship under my parents, so I have to find a Bajan and marry. You know of one?” she asked, with a chuckle.
Meanwhile, Barbadians Jeffrey Dowrich and wife Maria said they intended to enjoy themselves in what was left of the “colourful, fantastic event”, Crop Over.
“While we live in New York, our hearts are here in Barbados,” Dowrich remarked. “It takes a lot of planning and sacrifice but this is something we don’t mind sacrificing and budgeting for. It is our national festival and we love it.” (AH)
