Music

Music Festival
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Music Festivals

    Imagine watching your favourite bands on the beautiful island of Barbados, where the blue and yellow national flag reflects the warm, azure ocean and soft, golden sands. Imagine discovering music that lifts your spirits and soothes your soul leaving you buoyed up for the next adventure.

    This is the elation of a Barbados music festival.

Calypso and Soca Music Festivals

    Barbados is the birth place of many top Calypso and Soca artists. Calypso sounds can be traced back to the seventeenth century when African slaves first arrived in Barbados on the trade winds.

    Today many Barbadians live to the beat of Calypso, which became highly organised following the founding of The Barbados Crop Over Festival. The Crop Over Festival is the biggest event of the year, where all Barbadians are given a national holiday and celebrate in style with a colourful carnival.

    The chosen Calypso and Soca kings and queens perform on moving floats while their festival participants follow in 'bands', creating a vibrant atmosphere as they dance up a festival frenzy adorned in hot colours, minute bikinis, dazzling sequins, fabulous feathers and beautiful body paint. This is one party not to be missed!

Pop and Rock Music

    Pop festivals are attended by locals and tourists alike and are often a glitzy, glamorous affair. Breakfast in Barbados, for instance, has showcased the likes of Bryan Adams, Nelly Furtado, Bare Naked Ladies, New Kids on the Block, Jann Arden and the charming Michael Bublé in beautiful settings such as the grounds of an illustrious plantation house.

    In addition, the alternative indie and rock music scene is growing on the island. Many up and coming indie and rock bands are on the rise, such as Psilos who perform at various festivals throughout the year including the Virgin Holidays Music Festival.

    Ska, Reggae, Dub and Breakbeat

    Barbaodos also hosts vibrant festivals which vibrate to Ska, Reggae, Dub and break beat. The Virgin Holidays Music Festival,; for instance, was headlined by The Dub Pistols. There is also an annual Reggae festival: Reggae on the Hill, which revellers flock to in their thousands.

Jazz and Gospel

    Jazz comes naturally to Barbadians whose origins are Africa and Europe, which is where the traditional music that fused together to form Jazz comes from. Jazz was born in the 20th century, and originates from the African American communities of the Southern United States. Barbados hosts an annual Jazz Festival which has showcased the likes of Chrisette Michele, Kenny G, Erykah Badu, Luther Vandross, Alicia Keys, Patti LaBelle and Anita Baker, whilst supporting The Barbados Jazz Academy (children's workshops given by some of the most renowned jazz masters).

    Gospel is alive in the spirit of Barbadians with many Barbadians living and breathing Christianity (Anglican and Catholic). There is an annual Gospelfest at which thousands of Barbadians watch a week of uplifting gospel singing with artists coming from as far as the United States.