Instead of featuring a Soca Monarch Competition during the Crop Over season this summer, a world-class soca concert will be held on August 6, 2023, to showcase the best songs of the season, top artists, and up and coming singers. The announcement from Barbados comes as Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival closed without its signature Soca Monarch competition, which was cancelled this year due to insufficient funding. Kejan Haynes reports for the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. [For more on Crop Over and Kadooment, see one of previous older posts: The Barbados Crop Over.]

Barbados’ Crop Over will not feature a Soca Monarch Competition this year.

The announcement was made by CEO of the National Cultural Foundation Carol Roberts-Reifer. In her announcement she said the decision was taken because the competition didn’t benefit the artistes in “pursuing a sustainable livelihood.”

“So, we have agreed that we will mount a joint campaign and project to assist artistes and producers with the production of soca tunes that can hold their own in any market,” Roberts-Reifer said.

Instead, there will be a concert on August 6.

Trinidad and Tobago also dropped its Soca Monarch competition for Carnival 2023, but that was due to funding issues.

For full articles, see https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/barbados-drops-soca-monarch-from-crop-over-6.2.1648195.642365c3a7 and https://caribbean.loopnews.com/content/barbados-replaces-soca-monarch-competition-concert-649037