As Barbados prepares to welcome the latest iteration of its iconic Crop Over festival, a new carnival band called Monde Mas has found itself at the center of local debate over outside involvement. Now, the group’s founder and managing director Corey Garrett is pushing back against public skepticism, emphasizing that the new band remains unshakably rooted in Barbadian culture and identity.
In an exclusive interview with Barbados TODAY conducted at the band’s headquarters, located on the upper level of the Massy Stores building in Warrens, Garrett opened up about the band’s financing structure. He confirmed that Monde Mas has secured limited external investment from international partners – a portfolio that includes well-known Trinidadian soca stars Bunji Garlin and Fay-Ann Lyons. However, he was quick to clarify that this outside financial support does not dilute the band’s Barbadian core, nor does it shift its creative and operational direction.
Far from being a compromise on local identity, Garrett explained that the decision to onboard international partners is a strategic step aligned with a far more ambitious goal: extending the global footprint of Barbados’ beloved Crop Over festival. For years, the festival has drawn visitors to the island, but Garrett and his team believe it has untapped potential to resonate far beyond Barbados’ borders.
“We have assembled a team of forward-thinking industry insiders who share one big question: How do we grow Crop Over’s presence from a regional national festival into a globally recognized cultural event?” Garrett shared in the interview. He went on to acknowledge the significant work the Barbadian government has already done to elevate the festival’s international profile, but argued that private sector and independent cultural organizations have a critical role to play in boosting its global visibility.
“From the earliest days of Monde Mas’ development, our leadership has fully embraced the vision of bringing Crop Over to audiences across the world, particularly to diaspora communities and emerging carnival markets,” he added. “This global outreach doesn’t just benefit Monde Mas – it puts Barbados front and center for cultural travelers, letting people know that the island is home to one of the most vibrant carnival experiences in the world, which they can only experience fully by visiting us.”
Garrett doubled down on his assertion that despite the cross-border partnerships, the band’s foundation is entirely local. “At the end of the day, we are 100 per cent Bajan. The bulk of our funding is sourced locally, our core team is based in Barbados, and we are built on decades of local participation in Crop Over,” he said. “Our outside partners are simply helping us export our already established Bajan brand to new audiences around the world.”
Looking beyond the conversation around foreign investment, Garrett also outlined the core philosophy that shapes Monde Mas’ approach to Crop Over and the festival’s Kadooment Day parade. He described the band as a deliberate fusion of decades of hands-on experience in the local festival industry and bold, new creative innovation, with the ultimate goal of reimagining what the Crop Over experience can be for participants and audiences.
“This project is all about balancing fresh, forward-looking innovation with deep cultural roots and years of lived experience in Crop Over,” he explained. Every member of the band’s leadership team brings decades of active participation and organizational experience in the festival, giving Monde Mas a grounded understanding of what makes Crop Over uniquely Bajan.
“We’ve taken all of those years of on-the-ground experience, combined it with new creative vision, innovation, our existing industry connections and long-standing community relationships, and molded all of that into something entirely new,” he said. “The birth of Monde Mas marks a new, exciting direction for Kadooment in Barbados, one that honors our culture while opening new doors for the festival’s future.”