About Crop Over (Grand Kadooment)
Crop Over is Barbados's biggest and most colourful festival, a months-long celebration with roots in the 18th century, when it marked the end of the island's sugar-cane harvest. Plantation workers would celebrate the last of the crop with music, food and dancing, and that tradition has evolved into a vibrant modern carnival of soca and calypso music, fetes, craft markets and dazzling costume parades that light up the Caribbean summer.
The season builds through July with calypso tents, the Pic-O-De-Crop calypso monarch competition, the Bridgetown Market street fair and Foreday Morning, a paint-and-mud jump-up. It all culminates in Grand Kadooment, when masquerade bands in spectacular feathered and bejewelled costumes parade from the National Stadium in a blaze of colour, music trucks and revelry. Crop Over is also closely tied to Barbadian icon Rihanna, whose appearances have drawn global attention to the festival.
Crop Over climaxes on Grand Kadooment Day, a public holiday held on the first Monday of August. The festivities, however, stretch across several weeks beforehand, so fans plan their trips well in advance. Add Crop Over to your own countdown page and the counter above will show exactly how many days remain until Barbados erupts in soca and colour.
Upcoming dates
| 2026 | Monday, August 3, 2026next |
| 2027 | Monday, August 2, 2027 |
| 2028 | Monday, August 7, 2028 |
| 2029 | Monday, August 6, 2029 |
| 2030 | Monday, August 5, 2030 |
FAQ
When is Crop Over?
The festival runs through the summer and climaxes on Grand Kadooment Day, a Barbados public holiday on the first Monday of August. The countdown above shows the time until the next Grand Kadooment.
Why is Crop Over celebrated?
It originally marked the end of the sugar-cane harvest on Barbados in the 1700s, and has grown into a national festival celebrating Barbadian culture, music and heritage.
How is Crop Over celebrated?
With calypso and soca competitions, fetes, the Bridgetown Market fair, the Foreday Morning jump-up and the spectacular Grand Kadooment costume parade.
What is Grand Kadooment?
Grand Kadooment is the festival's grand finale, when masquerade bands in elaborate costumes parade through the streets from the National Stadium to music and revelry.