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Digicel Reggae festival 2016


THEBOILERMAN
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We went last year.

it was an interesting experience, they are keen to attract tourists to it, but it isn't at all touristy. It remains very much an event which is attended by local people. We met ONE other white person at The Vintage Night, and he was local. Literally one, at an event attended by about 3000 people. There were a few more in The Hill, but not many more.

if you are white, be prepared to be in a minority in a way you haven't ever quite experienced before. I live in Birmingham, and spent most of my youth in Blues in Balsall Heath & Handsworth, but still found it quite disconcerting. I had been in places where I was one of only a handful of white people before, but it is a different feeling when off home ground.

its good though, I wouldn't not recommend it, but it's good to go with the right head on, and not be surprised by how unexpectedly awkward it can feel.

The undoubted highlight was hearing and singing along to Redemption Song with 3000 Bajans. it was a moment I will never forget. Hearing it from people who are still where they were taken really gave a weight to it I had never felt before (& I have always loved this tune and its meaning). Intensely emotional.

oh - and stand stock still and look forward for their national anthem - they are deadly serious about that stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi amfy, thanks for the reply. Not been to Barbados before but have been out to Jamaica, St Lucia. Staying at Dover Beach Hotel near St Laurence Gap, small  hotel I don`t do AI  :).

As we go the 19th and back 29th April  I wanna plan to go to the Beach Party day on the 24th.

Any info you can give us would be great.

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We stayed at Infinity on the Beach at St Lawrence Gap which is at the southerly end (I think) of the main drag, almost as far as you can go in that direction.

you will no doubt of heard of Oistins and you should definitely go although I thought it was a bit overrated. It was some of the best value food we had and the vibe is nice. There is also a pretty good supermarket down there so you can self cater a bit to save some $$$. 

Get the little reggae buses down there - they are the best adventure of Barbados - great fun. You just stand at the side of the road, wave one down & it doesn't matter how many people they have on board, they will squeeze you in somehow, and hurtle at terrifying speeds blasting reggae. It's a health & safety nightmare! The taxi drivers and resorts will try to tell you horror stories about how unsafe they are, but that's because they are so much cheaper and undercut every other form of transport.

however taxis across the island are also relatively cheap and this'll be your best route to the beach party. (We arrived just after the beach party - but the whole island is only 14 miles long, so it never gets that dear to get anywhere) we found that after the events there were loads of taxis waiting and it wasn't hard to pick one up. You might find someone you don't know sharing your taxi - we travelled to Vintage night with a girl from London, who was as surprised as we were to be sharing!

Bajan dollars are solid and more useable that American dollars. Tipping is very much expected at all times and it's a good idea never to pay with more cash than you want to spend, because they are very likely to wander off without giving change just believing the rest is a tip! They clearly believe this genuinely, not trying to blag you. It's still a very poor country, totally reliant on tourism, and they believe we have this money to spend. I tried to be as genourous as I could with tips, but in the first couple of days I got stung a couple of times. The taxi from the airport is $31, but if you hand over $40, you will pay $40 - it's $31 rather than $30 for a reason! 

The best restaurant we found on the Gap was 'Rude Boyz' - right out the southerly end, past the Sporting Pig, on the left above the supermarket. We went twice - really fabulous food and that's the one that's worth spending a little more on (although it wasn't expensive by proper eating out standards) Most eating out is expensive and often not worth it. There is also a really brilliant little cafe just by there called 'Bliss' which is a great place to have breakfast - run by a Bajan from London, great food at good prices. The street food is also good value. The pizza place at that end is good too. Opposite Rude Boyz there are a couple of little bars that have live music that we really liked. 

Bajans are quite abrupt, direct, and to the point, but are really friendly once you get past their manner! Don't be put off if they seem rude and monosyllabic when you ask a question as that is just their way and they are really lovely! Just keep talking and you move straight past that & are soon smiling and laughing! I wonder whether that are initially like that because they get a lot of rude rich white people there who take no interest in them beyond service, and then they lighten up once YOU are friendly.

The sea is beautiful to just float around in, properly dreamlike, but the rips are fierce so keep your wits about you too! The lifeguards will keep you to the safe zones.

we were there a fortnight and barely left the Gap, it was just so lovely that we didn't see the need to be anywhere else! We only left for the festival and the cricket!

you'll find it very different to Jamaica, music is much more mainstream, they love country & western, & Ed Sheeran! They also love Karaoke and the big open bar on the land side of the gap has an hilarious karaoke night where there are a few locals who clearly think this is their shot at the big time but are absolutely abysmal.

The climate at that time of year is very much like good English summer rather than sweltering - a really comfortable heat. 

You'll love it. I could definitely live there

 

Edited by amfy
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On ‎13‎/‎02‎/‎2016 at 1:52 PM, amfy said:

We stayed at Infinity on the Beach at St Lawrence Gap which is at the southerly end (I think) of the main drag, almost as far as you can go in that direction.

you will no doubt of heard of Oistins and you should definitely go although I thought it was a bit overrated. It was some of the best value food we had and the vibe is nice. There is also a pretty good supermarket down there so you can self cater a bit to save some $$$. 

Get the little reggae buses down there - they are the best adventure of Barbados - great fun. You just stand at the side of the road, wave one down & it doesn't matter how many people they have on board, they will squeeze you in somehow, and hurtle at terrifying speeds blasting reggae. It's a health & safety nightmare! The taxi drivers and resorts will try to tell you horror stories about how unsafe they are, but that's because they are so much cheaper and undercut every other form of transport.

however taxis across the island are also relatively cheap and this'll be your best route to the beach party. (We arrived just after the beach party - but the whole island is only 14 miles long, so it never gets that dear to get anywhere) we found that after the events there were loads of taxis waiting and it wasn't hard to pick one up. You might find someone you don't know sharing your taxi - we travelled to Vintage night with a girl from London, who was as surprised as we were to be sharing!

Bajan dollars are solid and more useable that American dollars. Tipping is very much expected at all times and it's a good idea never to pay with more cash than you want to spend, because they are very likely to wander off without giving change just believing the rest is a tip! They clearly believe this genuinely, not trying to blag you. It's still a very poor country, totally reliant on tourism, and they believe we have this money to spend. I tried to be as genourous as I could with tips, but in the first couple of days I got stung a couple of times. The taxi from the airport is $31, but if you hand over $40, you will pay $40 - it's $31 rather than $30 for a reason! 

The best restaurant we found on the Gap was 'Rude Boyz' - right out the southerly end, past the Sporting Pig, on the left above the supermarket. We went twice - really fabulous food and that's the one that's worth spending a little more on (although it wasn't expensive by proper eating out standards) Most eating out is expensive and often not worth it. There is also a really brilliant little cafe just by there called 'Bliss' which is a great place to have breakfast - run by a Bajan from London, great food at good prices. The street food is also good value. The pizza place at that end is good too. Opposite Rude Boyz there are a couple of little bars that have live music that we really liked. 

Bajans are quite abrupt, direct, and to the point, but are really friendly once you get past their manner! Don't be put off if they seem rude and monosyllabic when you ask a question as that is just their way and they are really lovely! Just keep talking and you move straight past that & are soon smiling and laughing! I wonder whether that are initially like that because they get a lot of rude rich white people there who take no interest in them beyond service, and then they lighten up once YOU are friendly.

The sea is beautiful to just float around in, properly dreamlike, but the rips are fierce so keep your wits about you too! The lifeguards will keep you to the safe zones.

we were there a fortnight and barely left the Gap, it was just so lovely that we didn't see the need to be anywhere else! We only left for the festival and the cricket!

you'll find it very different to Jamaica, music is much more mainstream, they love country & western, & Ed Sheeran! They also love Karaoke and the big open bar on the land side of the gap has an hilarious karaoke night where there are a few locals who clearly think this is their shot at the big time but are absolutely abysmal.

The climate at that time of year is very much like good English summer rather than sweltering - a really comfortable heat. 

You'll love it. I could definitely live there

 

amfy, thanks for a tremendous reply :):) 

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