Crop Over revamp crucial

A revamping of various Crop-Over competitions will pave the way forward to improving the sweetest summer festival.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth Stephen Lashley disclosed that in light of the developments that directly impact stated criteria of some competitions, a rejuvenation of these contests was necessary.

“The sugar industry is now largely mechanized, however the King and Queen of the Crop is still selected based on the tonnage of cane cut by the respective workers. One option on the table is to shift away from the cane harvesting aspects, to a selection of honourees making an impact on the broader areas of the sugar and rum industries or the cultural industries generally. Let me hasten to add that the current status quo with respect to competitions during Crop Over will be retained until all options have been exhausted and the NCF carries out the widest consultation with our stakeholders,” he stated.

Addressing the Crop-Over Sponsors’ Launch at Illaro Court on Friday night, he stressed that change was inevitable as competition was emerging from other sources and patrons have many other options to exercise their purchasing power.

“It will only be through continual revitalization of these festival products that our marquee events would continue to be rated as the events of choice in ‘the end of the festival polls’, such as the one commissioned last year by a local magazine,” the minister added.
In addition, Lashley pointed out that there were lessons to be learnt from the relatively recent addition of the heritage event package, which has aroused tremendous interest and inspired entrepreneurial pursuits.

He outlined that in order to maintain its appeal, especially to the younger audiences, there was a need for a continuous review to ensure relevance and viability, but cautioned that this must be done without losing the cultural aspect.

“There is no doubt that we must adapt our offerings to match the needs of a varying target audience, without compromising our cultural identity. We understand the difference between keeping those traditions that form the core of our ‘mirror image’ and tweaking the frameworks and methods of offering that would make that “mirror image” more attractive for exploration by home grown audiences as well as those enticed from the world market,” Lashley said. (JMB)