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Seven hours of cultural festivities this Saturday

The seven hours of non-stop activities begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 1 at Hayman’s Factory Yard, St Peter when the National Cultural Foundation stages the Digicel Ceremonial Delivery of the Last Canes.

Here is what you can expect:

Over 80 vendors will be on location including, the Bajan Market Place with over 30 booths offering an array of Bajanmade products and services.
There will be workshops in: Traditional Sweets, Introduction to Calabash Carving, Introduction to Sailors Valentine Shell Collage, Introduction to Rag-Mat Making and Traditional Sweets. Demos in Loom Weaving, Live Painting, Face-painting, Traditional Pandanus Basketry, Pottery Decoration and an exhibition of children’s books.
The colourful parade hits the road at 4 p.m. featuring the Zouave Band of the Barbados Defence Force, specially decorated dray cart and dancers, tuk bands, stilt walkers, stick lickers the Barbados Landship, traditional shaggy bears and more.
The sweet sounds of the Barbados Police Service Band and the ceremonial blessing of the last canes by the Sons of God Apostolic Spiritual Baptist Church.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley addresses the event and declares Crop Over 2023 officially open.
Special performances by the Barbados Landship will be followed by a presentation ceremony for outstanding sugar workers and Crop Over Festival stalwarts.
Watch out for a specially commissioned bashment/calypso/ spoken word presentation. Check out the Inter-schools’ Heritage Games (Potta/ Warri) Competition where for the first time, individual school champions will battle for the National titles.
Come and participate in line dancing, historical and genealogy sessions with the Archives Department. Enjoy rich cultural entertainment including Traditional maneuvres by the Barbados Landship Association as well a special Landship interpretation by Danse Nationale Afrique, the Xtreme Folk Group, sticklicking, tuk bands and DJ music.
The Chefs’ Corner will feature three top Bajan chefs including vegan aficionado Ann-Marie Leach. Unique twists on the use of molasses, cassava and black belly lamb will available for free sampling.
Come support Barbados’ up-and-coming entrepreneurs in the Millennial Hub and also be entertained with performances by Stiffy, Mighty Bit Bit, the Israel Lovell Drummers, the reigning Scotiabank Junior Monarchs Yahandje and Tae, as well as Kloud 9.
At 7.30 p.m. we culminate the event with the nostalgic replay of the Road March winners and their hit tunes will take centrestage at the 2023 Vintage Tent. Together on stage for the first time in years will be Cultural ambassadors Gabby, RPB, along with Mighty Grynner, Serenader, Edwin Yearwood, Lil Rick, Blood, Ian Webster, Barry Chandler, Biggie Irie and Madd.
The throwdown of epic hits from 1979 to 2002 will include Cyan Find Me Brudda, Stinging Bees, Mr T, Burn Mr Harding, Leggo I Hand, Spring Garden On Fire, Inez, Obadele, Volcano, Sac Passe, Mash Up & Buy Back, Raggamuffin, and more.

Getting to Hayman’s is no problem!
The Transport Board will provide a consistent bus service to and from Hayman’s Factory on the following routes:

* Princess Alice Bus Terminal – Rock Hall
* Speightstown Terminal – Rock Hall
* Oistins & Speightstown Terminal – ABC Highway
*Additional buses will be added for the return to Bridgetown/Oistins.
There will also be free parking for

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CIBC Caribbean team cleans Drill Hall Beach

A team of about 50 volunteers from CIBC Caribbean and their families joined hundreds around the world on Saturday 21^st September for the start of the International Coastal Clean-up – the world’s largest annual volunteer effort created to tackle and clean up increasing levels of trash and debris which are impacting our delicate marine environment.

Armed with gloves and lots of energy, the team assembled on the Drill Hall Beach, St. Michael from as early as 6.30a.m., and with the help of the crew from the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) they started the task of collecting trash left by people who use the popular beach.

*Jacquelyn Boyce (right) marks off the items brought in by her team as they collect the debris*

The Barbados International Coastal Clean-up (BICC) is an annual nationwide volunteer beach cleanup event which is coordinated by Barbados’ Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN), a non-profit organization. This year the cleanup for Barbados will take place every Saturday until the end of October in an attempt to tackle and prevent the damage being done to our local marine environment by trash and debris on our beautiful beaches.

*The CIBC Caribbean team armed with the gloves and bags just before setting off on their clean-up mission*

On Saturday, all materials collected were carefully catalogued and recorded as the CYEN team uses this information to report into the international network to which they belong, about the items found on beaches across the region.

Within a two-hour window, the CIBC Caribbean team had collected 108.39 kgs of garbage which included food wrappers and containers, plastic beverage bottles, clothing, pieces of glass, cups, plates, grocery bags, micro plastics and bottle caps. They also removed pieces of wood and a discarded office chair with wheels. The group also moved the fallen dry palm tree fronds to a large pile for further removal.

*Sean Bostic and Krystle Maynard (right holding card) present the sponsorship card to Shannon Weekes and Jabari Jones of the CYEN*

“The cleanup at Drill Hall Beach highlights the ongoing commitment of Barbadians to safeguarding our coastal environment. As we work together to remove harmful debris, we not only protect our marine ecosystems but also strengthen our communities. Each piece of litter removed is a step toward a healthier, more sustainable future for Barbados, and we are proud to have CIBC contributing to this vital cause year after year. This effort is a reminder that protecting our beaches is not just an annual event but a shared responsibility for all of us,” stated National Coordinator for the CYEN in Barbados Shannon Weekes.

The bank also took the opportunity to present the CYEN with a donation towards their work in keeping the beaches clean by organising the clean-up exercises this year. The super-size credit card was presented by Krystle Maynard from the Treasury Department and Sean Bostic Senior Manager, Business Analysis, Performance & Analytics.

This is the third year that the bank has participated in the beach cleanup. Other beaches they have tackled include Sam Lord’s Castle Beach, St. Philip and Pirate’s Cove Beach in Bridgetown. (PR)

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VENEZUELANS TO VOTE SUNDAY JULY 28

Venezuela’s opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, says he trusts the country’s military to ensure respect for the result of Sunday’s presidential election. Speaking during a press conference on Friday, Mr. Gonzalez declared that the Opposition, is going to win because millions of Venezuelans want change.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, has attracted significant support, even from former supporters of the ruling socialist party.

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Mr Deejay first on stage at Finals

First-timer to the competition Mr Deejay will be start the competition when the Courtesy Garage Pic O De Crop Finals comes of next Friday, August 2 at the National Botanical Gardens at 8 p.m.

This is the first time in the history of the competition that a visually-impaired contestant has made it to the Finals. The Courtesy Garage Pic O De Crop Finals Draw was held Wednesday, July 24 at Courtesy’s Wildey showroom. There were no switches.

Reigning Monarch iWeb will perform at No. 15. I-Web was unable to attend the draw. However, his manager Brian Corbin was present and pulled on his behalf. TC pulled for Tae who came later while Merle Niles pulled for Biggie Irie who was present. The other finalists were present as well as tent managers, relatives andwell-wishers.

National Cultural Foundation Chief Executive Officer Carol Robers announced that the Finals will be streamed to Barbadians free of cost as a gift for the 50^th anniversary of Crop Over. Courtesy Garage’s Regional Product Manager Samuel Gaston reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the festival.

*NCF CEO Carol Roberts (left) (EDIT) Courtesy Garage’s Regional Product Manager Samuel Gaston and Acting General Manager Andrez Greene.*

The draw took place in the Courtesy Garage showroom where the 2024 Nissan E Power X-Trail was on show. This year the winner of the Courtesy Garage Pic O De Crop Competition has the option of driving away a brand new Nissan vehicle valued at $136 000 or take $100 000 in cash. Second place gets $40 000;

third place $20 000 and fourth place takes home $15 000. 5^th place gets $10 000;