Tents gearing up to face the judges

The road to the Courtesy Garage Pic O De Crop Finals intensifies from next Saturday, July 9. That’s when the first of the six calypso tents will face the Pic-O-De-Crop judges for a chance to make it to the finals of the ultimate kaiso battle at Kensington Oval on Friday, July 29.

Seventeen finalists will compete with reigning 2019 Monarch Classic for a chance to walk away $100,000 or a fully-loaded Nissan Leaf thanks to Courtesy Garage.

The National Cultural Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer Carol Roberts-Reifer thanked Courtesy Garage for coming on board again this year.

“We sincerely thank our corporate partner Courtesy Garage for again coming on board and investing in the Festival and by extension the kaiso art-form. It’s always a pleasure to work with the team at Courtesy. We encourage Barbadians to come out and support the tents and then take that same energy to Kensington Oval on July 29 for the Pic-O-De-Crop Finals” Roberts-Reifer said.

The first tent to face the judges will be Super Gladiators on Saturday, July 9 at the Barbados Museum, The Garrison, St Michael. They will be followed by Payce Digital/COB Credit Union All Stars on Sunday, July 10.

Next up is C.O. Williams House of Soca who will face the judges on Wednesday, July 13 while the following night, Thursday, July 14, will be Stray Cats’ turn. First Citizen/Digicel De Big Show will be judged on Friday, July 15.

On Sunday, July 17, Carter’s Shining Stars will be the last tent to judge. At that time, the names of the 17 Finalists, to face Classic, will be announced after the judges deliberate.

When the Pic O De Crop registration closed on Monday, June 6, there were 90-plus calypsonians who had registered.

Music Officer Kevin Moore stated that the NCF is looking forward to staging another exciting Finals.

“The National Cultural Foundation is elated to be able to produce the Pic-O-De-Crop Competition after a two-year hiatus, due to the global pandemic. This year’s competition promises to be yet another exciting one, with many artistes indicating their intention to compete through their various tents. We expect the same quality music that we have grown accustom to on Finals night,” he said.

Patrons desirous of taking in some tent action and any other event for this Crop Over Festival can log on to:

• NCF Barbados on Facebook and Instagram
• Lovecropvoer.bb on Instagram
• Barbados Crop Over Festival on Facebook and;
• www.ncf.bb