Barbados will no longer host the Soca Monarch tournament.
On August 6, during the Crop Over season, a world-class soca event will be organized to highlight the finest songs of the season, top artists, and up-and-coming vocalists.
Friday night, at the introduction of Crop Over 2023, Carol Roberts-Reifer, CEO of the National Cultural Foundation, stated that a competition no longer suited the business.
“Seasonal products and songs made for competition cannot produce a successful industry,” she explained.
She stated that the NCF and the relevant parties concur that the soca monarch competition paradigm is no longer advantageous to the soca artists’ pursuit of a sustainable life.
She stated that they would launch a cooperative effort to aid artists in the development of soca songs that could compete everywhere, assist with distribution and marketing as well as merchandising and songwriting instruction, among other activities.
The declaration from Barbados follows the conclusion of Trinidad & Tobago’s Carnival sans the Soca Monarch competition.
This year’s tournament was canceled owing to a lack of funds.
