A call has been made for a symposium to discuss the history, controversies and relevance of Barbados’ premier festival Crop Over during its annual celebration.
It came from historian Trevor Marshall during Let’s Talk at Queen’s Park Steel Shed last Friday, the final one in a series produced by the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) to hear views on the various aspects of the annual festival now in its 41st year.
Friday’s event was designed to hear ideas for taking the festival forward and improve the profile of heritage events like Bridgetown Market, the Visual Arts Exhibition and literary competition during Crop Over.
“What I am proposing is a Crop Over symposium at which we will invite Barbadian intellectuals to share ideas through lectures and academic intellectual discourse. It will be held before the spectacular events – in what I call the dead weeks,” said Marshall.
He said the issues of Crop Over would be analysed through the discussion papers, both electronic and traditional. (JS)