FOR YEARS, I have seen festival lovers inquire, beg and insist that we have two days of jump up for Crop Over.
Concerns were the fact that naysayers would lament about extra costs to festival lovers and highlight aspects of the festival which would suffer as a result of this addition. Another concern would have been the hope that the organisers not replicate how two-day activities are done in Trinidad and Antigua, to name a few. Yes, there will be a second jump the day after Kadooment and its name is “Day Two”.
Luckily, I had the opportunity to sit and discuss this new concept with old schoolmates Ryan Moseley, Jemeila Moseley, Kim Archer and another fine young man who didn’t want to ‘babb’ about his key involvement.
Unlike Trinidad and Antigua, this second day will not have feather and bead mas with the usual “overpriced” costumes. Rather, t-shirts and what is commonly referred to as Monday wear (similar to Foreday’s frontline costumes) will be the order of the day.
Young carnivalistas with popular brands amongst the festival lovers will be designing the options for wear. From what I have had the privilege of seeing from the drafted designers, I shall be hitting the gym tomorrow to get my figure in order. This is the most relevant element I have heard of thus far for Crop Over 2016.
In addition, the theme, Freedom is most appropriate. I am extremely proud to witness game changing ventures being done by the young people; young people who are willing to take risks and constantly be at the forefront of the innovation curve.
Alter posting the information about this venture on my social media, I got calls from Notting Hill bandleaders in the United Kingdom and groups of friends across the region for the “scoop” on Day Two. To date, I have heard no negative responses. However, I do know that they will come. This is what I have to say to the naysayers when they come out of the crevices of conventionalism.
The consumer is king. The profile of the festival lover is one that will spend his or her money on what they want. Quite frankly, as told to one bandleader this week, people always make their decision based on costume and concept. To see a consumer spending money with Day Two as “tekkin bread outta my mout” is backward thinking. A word of advice: get involved. Please do not repeat the behaviour many of us adopted when Foreday came up with Monday wear type costumes and complained that this was affecting Grand Kadooment. This should be seen as a complement to the existing festivities.
As previously stated, Crop Over amongst other things, is a business. Mark my word, any entity which suffers as a result of Day Two did not have a strong enough brand at the time of writing this article. The fittest will always survive and the cream will always rise to the top. I sincerely hope not to see articles with complaints from existing stakeholders seeking to convince the NCF or Minister Stephen Lashley to disallow these young people.
Slated to launch in less than a month, many of us are cheering on these young entrepreneurs. I know that the Cranston Browne-led National Cultural Foundation will endorse this new addition to the Crop Over calendar.
Not because this is the 50th anniversary of our Independence, not because this is a milestone anniversary of Bussa’s rebellion, but because it is simply the right thing to do.
Now, where do I get Dr Scholls gel boot insoles from?
Two days of jumping ain easy!
Toni Thorne is a young entrepreneur and World Economic Forum Global Shaper who loves global youth culture, a great debate and living in paradise. Email: Tonithorne@hotmail.com
