This year, I had the opportunity to go to Barbados to attend one-week’s worth of Crop Over festivities. Both a Caribbean gyal and soca lover, I have always wanted to attend Carnival. It’s actually kind of crazy that it has taken me this long to finally go, considering how long it’s been on my bucket list.

If you’re planning on going to Crop Over in the future/just came back from Crop Over and want to relive it in someone else’s eyes/just curious to know what Crop Over even is, then keep on reading!

Where to Stay for Crop Over – Our Hotel

I had went with a group of 4 others (so 5 people in total). One person from our group said someone had recommended that we stay somewhere in the St. Lawrence Gap area for Crop Over. This area is located in the lower Southwest region of Barbados. However, the fetes we went to were located all over the south portion of the Barbados – so regardless we still had to take a taxi to get from place to place.

We had stayed in a 3-star, boutique style hotel called the Yellow Bird hotel, which is located right in Oistins. And y’all let me tell you, this hotel was GORGEOUS. We were placed in a two bedroom suite on the very bottom floor of the hotel. The rooms were clean, the staff was very friendly, nothing was dysfunctional – everything worked out perfectly fine. I would definitely recommend the place to anyone coming to Barbados, however make sure to get a room on the first floor since they’re no elevators.

The Yellow Bird hotel is also located right next to a strip of restaurants and bars. One night, we actually decided to party at a few clubs on the strip. To be honest, the only reason why we went in to a few of them is because it started to rain outside lol. However, they turned out to be really fun – some were solely playing Soca and Dancehall music, while others were playing American (hip hop/pop) music.

Crop Over Fetes Reviews

During our trip, we went to 5 fetes. However, we didn’t even get to do or plan to go to Foreday (which I plan to do next time). 

While planning out our trip months beforehand, we mainly relied on the Instagram page barbadoscropoverhub to find out party details and when tickets will be released. This page was CLUTCH for so many reasons, and I would highly recommend following them if you’re going to Crop Over in the future (no I’m not associated with them in any way). We really did not have any rhyme or reason as to why we chose the parties we chose – however, AM Bush and Soca Brainwash were a must. Here are mini reviews of each fete:

Lush

Lush was the first party we attended. We got there at around 8pm, which we thought was very late since the time on the flier stated that it was from 3pm-10pm. However, not only did a mass of people start to come at around 9pm, but the party didn’t get hype until around 10pm. Plus it went past 10pm! Needless to say, this was our first encounter of the “Caribbean time” phenomenon that repeated throughout our whole trip.  

However the party was really fun. There were a couple of bars offering drinks. We didn’t go to them since we decided to grab a slurpee + alcohol mixture they were giving out for free. They also gave us little glow sticks to dance with. We were also able to catch Lil Rick’s performance – once he got on the stage, that is when the party started to get hype. Overall, I would rate Lush a 4/5. 

Tribe

So we ended up getting to Tribe pretty late, since this was the day we had to pick up our costumes (more on that later). However, we made it just in time to see DJ Private Ryan, one of the biggest DJ’s in the Caribbean. We also saw some of Lil Rick’s performance – I’m guessing he was party hopping the whole weekend?

I can’t really say much about Tribe since we were there for only about 1 1/2 hours, but it wasn’t bad. I would give Tribe a 3/5.

Caesar’s Army/AM Bush

Ahhhh AM Bush. Known as one of the most sought after parties, I now understand why.

What exactly is AM Bush? The set up is like this: they’re 5 trucks – two play music, two give out drinks, 1 is a port-a-potty. You get there at around 2 o’clock in the morning, and it’s important that you arrive on time or else the trucks (aka the whole fete) would leave you. You jump alongside the trucks while they go down a predetermined path and blast Soca music. They also throw out paint bottles and people just randomly spritz paint on you. After a few hours of jumping, we arrived at tents where they gave us free food platters and drinks.

I absolutely had the time of my life at this fete. Even though it was for 6+ hours, it didn’t feel like it at all. I would give Caesar’s Army a 5/5.

Jalapeno Sunrise

Jalapeno was an all-white attire, early morning booze cruise. It was held on the MV Dream Chaser, a medium-sized one-story boat.

While the DJs were great, I really wasn’t feeling it for some reason. However I think it was just me – when you combine a rocking boat + the fact that it was 1am (the time I’m usually asleep at home) + the fact that we didn’t sleep in over 20 hours, I felt so slumped. But other people on the boat looked like they were having fun. I would give Jalapeno a 2/5.

Soca Brainwash

This was another one of my favorite fetes. Soca Brainwash in BIM was a cooler fete set outside at a park. Our group decided to only get the general admission tickets and then bring our own liquor in a cup.

As soon as you walk in, you are served different types of food such as pholourie, doubles, rice, and much much more. Then, you walk into the main area, which was completely decorated with different props. We were able to see both DJ Riggo Suave and DJ Private Ryan on the set, whom were both REALLY good. I would give Soca Brainwash a 4.5/5.

So in summary, Caesar’s Army was definitely my favorite fete on the trip. I highly recommend trying to get tickets for Caesar’s Army if you plan on going to Carnival in the near future. 

Oh and for memory’s sake, the popular songs they played at each party this year were: Top Striker (they played the @$#F#@! out of this song, but it never got old), Mudda Sally, Bend Back, Soca Kingdom, Funky Business, Showtime, and Feting Family, just to name a few. They also kept playing these two Afrobeat songs – If and Fall both by Davido.

Grand Kadooment Day

Truth be told, playing mas on Grand Kadooment Day is possibly the most fun I’ve had in a long long time.

Grand Kadooment day pretty much marks the “end” of Crop Over. All of the Masquerade bands, along with their masqueraders (us) march in a parade while they blast the hottest Soca, Dancehall, and Reggae tunes. This year, we played mas with Aura Experience.

What is it like playing mas? Of course you go there in your costume, all dazzled up. Each band has a few trucks that go down the road. Some are serving drinks, one is usually a port-a-potty, and the rest are blasting music. And you follow the trucks as they go down the road while you dance your costume off (literally and figuratively) while people watch you.

Rihanna usually comes and plays mas for Crop Over, however this year she didn’t make an appearance.

Our band sent out a notice (via Instagram) that breakfast started at around 7:30. Then we had to line up at 8:30am. Then we take on the “stage” – aka we battle against other bands to try to be the most “livest” band of the year. Uhhh because our group was late (we got there at around 10:30….), we missed all of that. However we were able to catch our band on the road. We marched down the road until 4:30pm – our band stopped at a beautiful beach. Here, they served us food such as chicken, rice, fish, and more.

My Review of Aura Experience  

My group and I chose Aura since we read good reviews of them from the year before. We registered with them through ticketpal.com, which wasn’t a hassle. To register with this band, you had to purchase a costume. And that’s it. And you had the option to either pay in full now, or pay a fee and then pay the rest later.

Aura used their Instagram account to give updates and logistics to their masqueraders. Just remember that, especially if you’re not on Instagram as much. I personally did not like this at all. My preferences is to receive important updates in an email or even a text message.

In regards to costume pickup, Aura had separated the costume pickup dates into 5 separate days, separated by costume type. We decided to go on the day our costume’s section, Genovia, was scheduled on.

Then, here comes the bad part. We had to wait in line for two hours just to get into the room. It took us another hour in the room to pick up our costumes and bag. And the main reason why it took this long is because there was only ONE person taking payments and printing out receipts. Let’s just say, we ended up missing most of Tribe because of this… However I must say, we had one more friend who picked up her costume the following day, and she said there was no line and she was “in and out” the room. It only took her 30 minutes to do everything. So perhaps it was bad timing, BUT I do NOT recommend going last minute, just in case you run into any costume mishaps and have to exchange something or fix it.

And once we got in to the room to pickup our costume, some of our boxes didn’t even have all of the costume in it. Of course they were able to go to the backroom and get whatever was missing. But seeing that happen to others made me a bit scared – though I ended up having all of my items.

They also gave us a drawstring bag which included: two bandannas (both with an Aura/Cockspur logo on it), caramel popcorn, a female condom, granola bar, tumbler cup, flash drive, a waterproof phone bag, and Cockspur Vodka (I got the flavor green apple).

I absolutely loved my costume, a lot. It fit me perfectly well and really made my body look right. However, the costume kept breaking, even before I left my hotel room. Also, it was much more revealing than I thought it was going to be. So revealing, my whole crew and I collectively agreed to go out and get tights to wear underneath our costume (we originally weren’t planning to).

If anything went right with Aura, it was definitely the road experience. There were guys who serving liquor, water bottles, and snacks which I REALLY liked and appreciated. 

Conclusion

Would I do Crop Over all over again? Oh yes. It has been a week and few days since I came back home, and I already miss it. However, I still want to try out other islands’ carnivals first. Trinidad, Jamaica, and Miami Carnival are on the top of my list.

What I’ve Learned After My First Trip (for future Crop Over goers)

• First, make sure you even have enough money for the whole thing. Crop over – or any Caribbean carnival – is NOT cheap! You should try to book things WAY in advance. I realized that once all the bands presented their costumes in April, that was when flight prices started to increase – and I’m talking about a $200 increase overnight. Hotels nor AirBnbs are cheap around this time – locals know what they’re doing. Expect to pay more than $60 for each fete, even more if the fete includes open bar/free drinks.To put things in perspective, I spent over $2K on this trip.
• Try to work out a few months beforehand. Or else, carnival will work you out.
• Book a hotel in the southern area of Barbados. I really liked staying in the St. Lawrence Gap area due to all of the clubs and restaurants in that location.
• There are no Uber/Lyfts/anything of that sort in Barbados. Which is why it’s important to have some cash on you.
• Take advantage of the dollar bus/dollar vans (it only costs 2 BBD/$1 USD). However, be aware that they may not go to your destination.
• Don’t forget that it does tend to rain on and off throughout the day since it is Hurricane Season. However, the rain passes after about 10 minutes.
• Take care of your health. Make sure you at least get some type of rest, and some food in your system. Believe it or not, it’s actually really hard to find the time to eat/sleep when you’re out having so much fun.
• Talking about food, there’s a fast food restaurant called Chefette that has some amazing roti. You will see this restaurant almost everywhere in Barbados and I highly recommend trying them out.
• Try to meet other people! While there were a lot of Bajans at each fete, I also got the chance to meet others from London, Trinidad, lots of other people from New York, etc.
• Print out ALL your tickets. Or, at least print out your receipt for your costume if you are playing mas.
• Comfort over style -> I’d recommend wearing sneakers when playing mas. I only saw a small number of people wearing boots, and not one person was wearing heels. 
• Bring cash with you. Don’t worry about exchanging your money at a money exchange kiosk – pretty much every Taxi Driver/shopkeeper accepted US dollars and were able to exchange it for Barbados dollars without paying a fee.