How to do Barbados’ Crop Over festival like a proper Bajan

If you’ve never heard of Crop Over before, you’ve definitely seen it. It’s the festival that occurs annually on the island, publicised each August with multiple pictures of Rihanna wearing the best outfits you’ve ever seen. 

Although Crop Over isn’t to be confused with a carnival, the costumes, dancing, and music are fairly similar. Whereas carnival in Trinidad, for example, happens right before Lent as one big blowout before fasting begins, Crop Over is a celebration of the sugar cane season being over for Bajans. Rum – and sugar production in general – have always been at the heart of Barbados’ economy, and the two-month long festival culminates on the first Monday of August each year, a time when the harvest would officially have been done and dusted. Bacchanal is a word you’ll hear a whole load of if you attend. It comes from the Greek god, Bacchus, who was the god of revelry, wine, and general abundance of all things good. Essentially, if Crop Over was a person. It’d be impossible to condense the whole Barbados experience down to one piece, but if you’re planning on visiting Crop Over, here are some things you should know based on my 2019 trip.

All inclusive fetes 

Fetes do not discriminate against time of day. These can happen all night long, during the day, and sometimes before the sun comes up. Each has a different vibe, but the thing that makes them all the same is that, for the price of your ticket, you’re treated to all the drinks and food you could wish to consume. For the early birds, Mimosa Breakfast Fete gets going at around 4am. Soca legends like Lil Rick took the stage while we ate our eggs and downed some actual mimosas to wake us up. By the time most people had had their morning shower, we were well past tipsy, wukking up as the sun rose (and with it, our sweat beads). If you’re after something a bit more chill you can head to Island Mas, which is situated in the historic George Washington building. It’s not as busy, for those who don’t like big crowds, but the jovial, festival atmosphere is certainly out in force.


If evening parties are more your thing, though, the Bliss All Inclusive Fete is the one you want. It’s set in the country’s botanical gardens, which is absolutely huge. The food court alone could fill a few football pitches, and you can get yourself everything from curry goat to steamed dumplings with slaw, while drinking and dancing to Soca. Soca is an integral part of loving Crop Over, and songs like Savannah Grass, Sometime, and Famalay will be the soundtrack to your time in Barbados, along with the tracks of Red Plastic Bag, Kes, and Farmer Nappy. Bring this positive energy (and wear your best get-up), and you’re guaranteed to enjoy yourself.

Get cultural 

As well as all that partying, you’d be mad not to spend some time getting to know the island and soaking up the rich culture of Barbados. Embarking on a whistlestop tour of the country – which you can do by car in around an hour – was certainly sobering among all that rum. Of course partying is at the forefront of this time of year for Bajans, but the whole story behind how it came to be is as fascinating as it is saddening. A country built on slavery, most Bajans you’ll speak to will say that they don’t hold grudges about it. However, you’ll never look at a palm tree the same once you know that they were planted to help slaves get back to their plantations. Or feel the same when you see hotels called The Colony Club frequented by wealthy, white tourists while you’ve just looked at lists of people who spent their lives in servitude.


As our tour guide Dawn Lisa says, though, it’s not about wallowing in it, but learning from what happened in Barbados, and understanding how it makes it such as diverse culture to this day. You can head to any number of bakeries on the island and pick up sausage rolls (or meat rolls, as they’re called here) that are distinctly British, or end up chatting to red-headed Bajans with a twinge of Irish in their accent from their ancestors. St. Nicholas Abbey is a perfect spot to learn all about this history, and you can take the train there up to Cherry Tree Hill and get the most fantastic views of the East Coast. There are rum tastings during the tour, and don’t forget to ask them about Benedict Cumberbatch (whose descendants lived here). You will learn some things, let me tell you.

Cruising and snorkelling 

A side from your packed party schedule, you’d be mad to miss the incredible natural beauty of Barbados. We went on the Tiami lunchtime catamaran cruise, and were able to snorkel in the shallow, clear waters, even spotting some turtles among all manner of fish. On top of that, we were provided with drinks, food, and plenty of music to accompany the bucket-list scenes we were experiencing. Cool Runnings is another popular option, but have a look online first to see which cruise is right for you. Alternatively, you can grab yourself a snorkel and jump into the sea and have at it. There are no private beaches allowed in Barbados, so the coastline is all yours (be safe, of course).

Foreday Morning 

If you didn’t learn about wukking up before, you’ll need to do so for this. We had lessons like the shy Brits they clearly knew we were, but for the uninitiated it’s a type of high-energy dance that involves a whole load of waist movement. Jumping is also another term you’d be best to get acquainted with; it doesn’t refer to the act of pushing yourself off a surface, but instead parading through the streets with a band. We jumped with the Jambalasse Foreday Morning Band, who provided us with T-shirts to customise, and plenty of paint at the meeting point so we could get ourselves covered in it. By the time we were on the road, we were shaking our hips no bother, with the whole thing going from around 10.30pm to 8.30am the next morning. Word of warning, only wear clothes you don’t mind getting covered in paint, go for comfy shoes, and get ready for the night of your life.

Kadooment Day 

The final day of Crop Over is Kadooment, and this is when you’ll see the most beautiful costumes and the most prominent people jumping around Bridgetown. Watching Rihanna in all her finery was a major highlight for many of us, but the infectious happiness of the whole day is impossible not to catch. Jump on Kadooment Day at your own peril, as you’ve likely been partying for days on end at this point, and you’ll be out in the blazing sun all day. If you do brave it, take sun cream and hat and have water between drinks to avoid a rum-induced bout of sunstroke.

What to eat 

The phrase eating’s cheating does not compute here, with food in abundance everywhere you go, and delicious, hot morsels available even from the likes of the local petrol station. Those after something filling and hearty should head to Ocean 2 for their Friday breadfruit roast, or for a special dinner to Primo in St Lawrence Gap. The gumbo and fish goujons, in particular, are unreal. A lunchtime spot with food that matches breathtaking views is The Crane, and the same goes for Champers, who’ll serve you the juiciest prawns you’ve ever had. It’s not all about gourmet meals though, and you can just as easily pick up Trini Doubles (chickpea filled roti wraps) and fish cakes at vendors on the street. Super-sweet street vendor snowcones compete with Barbados’ fast food giant Chefette for your treat money.

Where to stay

We stayed at the new Worthing Beach hotel, The Sands, for our trip, which is set on the buzzy South Coast. This would be ideal for those looking for a personal touch, with staff that go above and beyond to make you feel at home. You’re also right next to the party strip of St Lawrence Gap, and less than 15 minutes’ drive to Bridgetown, so you can head out in the evenings and lay on the white beaches by day. Prices for The Sands start from £1299, based on two sharing, for seven nights all inclusive. As a country that relies on tourism for income, however, you really are spoilt for choice. For a traditional (and perhaps less authentic, but we’re not judging) feel, Sandals have an all-new luxury retreat here. For the true bougie squad, there’s also Sandy Lane, which is considered to be one of the most prestigious resorts in the world.


Flights go from all over the UK, with Virgin Atlantic offering a year-round direct daily service from London Gatwick, twice-weekly service from Manchester and a once-weekly service from London Heathrow during the winter. They start from around £500. In the words of Lil Rick, ‘Crop Over’s a blessing, not a curse’, and it’s something that has to be seen to be believed. Metro.co.uk were invited to Crop Over festival by Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc, who provided complimentary travel and accommodation at The Sands, Worthing Beach.

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10 women from the same family who all had breast cancer celebrate getting the all-clear with a charity calendar

The women are all from the same family and over the last 17 years, they’ve all been treated for the disease. The group is aged from 47 to 81 and the includes mums and daughters, aunties and sisters-in-law, with eight being blood relatives. The family’s battle started in 2002 when Joyce Waite, 78, was diagnosed and ended when her nephew’s partner Jane Reeson, 54, in 2017. Now the women are coming together for the calendar, which is part of numerous fundraising events organised by Vanessa Haw. Vanessa, 55, a shop owner from Coningsby, Lincs., has also set up a Facebook group sharing her family’s experiences. She was diagnosed with cancer after an annual mammogram in April 2015. In May 2015, Vanessa had a left-sided mastectomy and had all lymph nodes removed from her left arm, followed by more operations to remove damaged skin and a right mastectomy in October 2016 as a precaution.

She said: ‘We’ve all fought cancer together as a family and shared our experiences with each other which has really helped. ‘The fact ten of us have gone through it has been a huge help. ‘We’re a close family so we’ve been there for each other. ‘That support and knowing someone had breast cancer but survived has been brilliant. ‘Even on the worst days, you knew there was life, there was hope. ‘I had my last yearly mammogram in April 2015. I got called back and had to have a deep core biopsy whilst I was there. ‘I got diagnosed with breast cancer four days later.’ Vanessa refused radiotherapy because of how it affected her mother Barbara Limb who was diagnosed with cancer in 2003.


Barbara, 81, was the second woman in the family to be diagnosed with cancer. She started experiencing pain in her breast in July 2003 and went to her GP She was referred to Grantham Hospital and had a mammogram and two biopsies before being diagnosed with breast cancer. She said: ‘I was sat at my friend’s house when she said to me “Barbara you have got a pain” and she asked me what the pain was like. ‘When I told her she said it was the same sort of pain she had. She made me go to the GP that afternoon. ‘The doctor saw me and got in touch with the local hospital and the next week they did a mammogram and a biopsy on the same day. ‘The doctor said that there was something there but they had missed it so I had to return for a second biopsy and the results confirmed I had breast cancer. ‘I had my op on 19 August 2003 and had lymph nodes removed and a lumpectomy. ‘This was followed by a full course of radiotherapy which still burns me all these years later. But I’m a survivor.’

Barbara’s niece Trudie Smart, 47, a teaching assistant from Boston, Lincs., was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2008. She had eight cycles of chemotherapy before having a mastectomy in November that year followed by three weeks of radiotherapy. She said: ‘My breast cancer was ER+ which meant I produced too much estrogen so I opted to have my ovaries removed.’ Just months after her diagnosis, her mum Shirley Limb, 72, of Kirton, Lincs.., was diagnosed in September 2008. Shirley was given the news following a routine mammogram. She had a lumpectomy and lymph nodes removed just before Christmas that year. She then had radiotherapy every day for three weeks and was told she was in remission in the summer of 2009.

Despite not being a blood-relative, Vanessa’s brother’s partner Lorraine Hill, 61, was diagnosed after finding a large lump in her breast in 2005. The barmaid and mum-of-one, from Horncastle, Lincs., had chemotherapy to shrink the tumour before undergoing a partial mastectomy. Sister-in-law Hazel Holland, 53, was also struck down when she had a mammogram in February 2015. The mum-of-two and breakfast club supervisor had an operation in March that year to remove a lump and lymph nodes, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She said: ‘I just took it all in my stride and got on with life.” Three years earlier in 2012, Hazel’s mum Mary Limb, 74, was told she had breast cancer after doctors found a lump. She was in hospital for four days after her operation to remove the lump and lymph nodes followed by radiotherapy.

Two years later Mary’s sister-in-law Margaret Bedford, 74, was diagnosed in August 2017. The mum-of-three had a lumpectomy the next month and following four weeks of gruelling radiotherapy was declared cancer-free. A month later, in October 2017, her son David’s partner Jane Reeson, 54, was diagnosed with cancer.

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17 Women tell Us About Their Worst oral Sex Experiences

Good oral sex is amazing. But bad oral sex is, well, horrible. 

Everybody wants to get oral sex right – but for some people, it’s just not their strong point. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get better at it, as long as your partner is open and honest with you about what they like and vice versa. But some women have had some pretty unfortunate experiences of oral sex, and they’ve shared them with us, so that we can laugh, cringe and cry along with them. Here’s what they said.

‘He thought it was an expert level move’ 

‘I had a guy motorboat my labia thinking it was an expert-level move. Noises and all.’

‘She had really long, sharp nails’ 

‘I had a woman go down on me once in a gay bar, and she kept focusing on my entrance rather than my clit and trying to use her fingers on me (she had really long, sharp nails). ‘I eventually faked an orgasm because I couldn’t stand the thought of five more minutes being prodded and poked by them.’

‘The worst oral sex I had was none at all’ 

‘The worst oral I ever had was in fact the no-oral-at-all for 18 months from my then bf who couldn’t bring himself to do it. I pity his now-wife, knowing she will never get it. ‘Actually, I tell a lie, he did it once using a dental dam and I can tell you that being licked through plastic is utterly pointless.’

‘He had really terrible veneers’

 ‘I was getting oral off a guy I’d fancied for years and years but he had just got really terrible veneers and his tongue wasn’t long enough to get round them. ‘Long story short I had big horse-like veneers resting on my vagina whilst his tongue didn’t get anywhere near it for a good 15 minutes.’ ‘He thought he was amazing at it’ ‘Once had this guy who kept pausing his below average cunnilingus skills to tell me why he was so amazing at it. ‘”I’m so good at cunnilingus because I enjoy it so much!” he said before returning to lick my clit like a cheap ice lolly. Then he’d take a break a few seconds after to tell me how much fun he was having. ‘Well, at least one of us was having fun.’

‘She bit me’ 

‘One time I was on a cruise and I met this girl. On the last day she went down on me and started biting my actual vagina like the p**** lips. ‘I almost started crying because of how painful it was becoming. I didn’t even finish because she was biting my p****. ‘After she was done she said I had no emotion while being eaten and I said “maybe that’s because you were biting my p****.” she didn’t take me seriously. ‘Anyways my vagina was swollen for the rest of the day and I couldn’t pee.’

 ‘He’d cooked with jalapenos’ 

‘Oral story. Guy had cooked with/touched and eaten jalapenos. So between mouth and fingers, my hoohah was on fire! For hours.’

‘He threw up all over me’

 ‘I once finally found myself alone and drunk with a guy I’d fancied for a long ass time! And the tension needed to be resolved. ‘We finally broke the ice and started making out, things went fast and we took a taxi home to his. The taxi was pretty sickly and rough considering how drunk we were and once we were home he stripped off my clothes and pushed me on the bed. ‘I couldn’t believe my luck as this was finally happening after so long, he kissed me from lips all the way down to my vagina, and after about 20 seconds of cunnilingus… threw up all over my bottom torso. ‘Let’s just say I cleaned myself and gladly did the walk of shame home.’

‘He sticks his tongue in my vagina’

 ‘Boyfriend routinely sticks his tongue in my vagina hole thinking I enjoy it – can’t feel a thing but pretend to because I don’t wanna hurt his feelings! ‘

 ‘He wouldn’t eat’

 ‘He basically just would not eat. I had washed before hand, I smelled amazing and he wouldn’t get in there. ‘A couple of tip of the tongue touches and he was out. I only cum from clit stimulation, it was disappointing from there onwards.’

‘There was spit everywhere’ 

‘My ex of seven years once spit on my clit while giving oral and there was so much saliva running down that I shrieked and had to clean up. I never let him go down on me again. ‘In hindsight, he was never that good at it to begin with.

’ More biting over here… ‘

It was the day I lost my virginity and so i didn’t really have a clue on what I would like. The boy pretty much had to do all the work. When he went down on me he kind of started to lick around but it didn’t feel good and suddenly I felt this sharp pain. ‘Apparently he thought it was a good idea for him to bite my clit. I yelped and asked what did he do that for. His response was “a lot girls like that.” ‘The rest of the experience was short and he ended up leaving quickly, which was a good sign because it started out terribly.’

‘He fell asleep between my legs’ 

‘My ex got absolutely drunk one night, wanted to “please me” and fell asleep between my legs. I’d move thinking he was trying to be sensual or draw things out –  he’d wake up and start again. ‘I had to tell him I was tired so we’d just go to bed. Still one of the most awkward things I’ve experienced – having someone asleep *right there*. No thank you.’

 ‘He kept licking my pee hole’

 ‘Worst oral sex was with my ex. Him on me, he kept licking my pee hole and flicking it and mistaking my jerks of pain for jerks of pleasure! That is not my clit you moron.’

‘He was told to spell out the alphabet’

 ‘I’ve got a good one. So this guy I was seeing had never given oral before, so he’d had a word with his mates for advice. They told him to spell out the alphabet and that the different shapes would feel good. ‘He apparently didn’t get that they meant to do this with his TONGUE, so he was basically just whispering the alphabet against my nunny. I just kinda lay there like – erm okay? Then I spoke to his friends after and realised his mistake ‘

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women comes up with amazing life hack for a scottish fry-up

women comes up with amazing life hack for a scottish fry-up

Let's face it, fry-up are stressfull to make


All that grease, the smells and trying to make sure everything is hot at the same time- it can get a little bit too intense.

One Scottish lady has come up with an ingenious breakfast life hack that will save everyone time in the kitchen

Ara Haddon uploaded a photo of her breakfast, all made with the help of her slow cooker, to the facebook group Slowcooker Recipe and and Tips and people are loving it.

been meaning to try it for ages, are wrote

'Verdict: Best. Idea, Ever.!

'This will be use every big breakfast morning.

She included special instruction on how to speed un the process.

'Place all breakfast ingredients in the slower cooker like in the photo, Ara wrote.

'Bacon and sausages along the sides so they crisp up ( next time I will try using baking paper to help keep them from sticking to the sides )

' I turned the slow cooker on low at 11pm, I got up at 8am and it lokked like it had been ready for a while, We ate at around 9am.

The only part of cooking the meal that required effort was putting the toast in the toaster, and, of course, frying the egg.

Ara's post has since gone viral, after Facebook user Rose Bowler shared it her profil last wee and wrote; What amazing idea someone has shared in the slow cooker group.

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