The culture of Barbados is a blend of West African and British cultures present in Barbados. English is the official language of the nation, reflecting centuries of British influence, but the Bajan dialect in which it is spoken is an iconic part of the Barbadian culture. This dialect is a combination of the languages from the different inhabitants in its history. Barbadian culture is influenced by the Indigenous Caribs, Africans, Europeans and South Asians. [1]
The island's British influence stretches back almost 400 years to 1625, when Captain John Powell claimed it in the name of King James I. The first British colonists arrived two years later, founding a settlement of 80 civilians and 10 African slaves. From the start, Barbados adopted the British style of government, creating a Parliamentary democracy in 1639. During the colonial period, all members of the Legislative Assembly were members of the elite-plantocracy.
Barbados gained full political independence from Britain in 1966, but chose to retain its traditional parliamentary democracy governmental style and remains a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
The love of the sport of cricket continues to be reflected as an essential part of Barbados' culture. The most popular sport in Barbados, its cricket team has won numerous regional titles. Many players on the team go on to greater success on the West Indies cricket team to compete in international games. One of the most highly regarded cricket players of all time, Sir Garfield Sobers, was born and raised in Barbados.
The country's architecture pays further establishment testament to Britain, with many historic buildings still standing. In addition to traditional wood and stone, coral was also used in construction, lending a unique Barbadian flair. Jacobean, Georgian and Victorian styles dominate. But slaves constructed many of these buildings, as well as their own chattel houses, so they were an integral part of the island's architectural legacy. Built of wood, chattel houses were set atop blocks instead of permanent foundations so they could be easily moved from place to place. The vivid colours of these chattel houses show the West African influence.
Religion plays a significant role in life on the island. Up to 95% of the populace identifies itself as "Christian" (whether practicing or otherwise), and with its long British ties, the Anglican church comprises the largest segment of the population. [2] However, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, and other Christian denominations also support congregations. The Christian population celebrates its deeply rooted faith in an annual festival, Gospelfest. Smaller Jewish, Hindu and Muslim communities add some religious diversity. The Rastafarian faith also has its community of adherents, sometimes complaining of discrimination in schooling and employment. [2]
In addition to Gospelfest [a concert in which the good news about Jesus is sung], Barbados holds many other carnivals and festivals. The Landship is a Barbadian tradition. It mimics and parodies the Royal Navy, and incorporates music, dance and games. The largest and most important festival in Barbados is Crop Over, which celebrates the end of the sugarcane harvest. Lasting three weeks, it includes fairs, parades and contests.
Music is an important part of the country's culture. Modern Barbados has produced popular stars of calypso music and the indigenous spouge style, and also has a large jazz scene. Reggae, soca music and tuk band are popular as well. [3]
The vast majority of contemporary Bajan calypso and soca music centers around the five-week Crop Over festival, whose events begin in late May and run throughout the summer, climaxing in the first week of August with the Grand Kadooment [4] (also known as Kadooment Day), a national holiday in Barbados. [5]
Every January, Barbados hosts the Barbados Jazz Festival. In mid-February, Barbados hosts the Barbados Holetown Festival which celebrates the arrival of the first English settlers.
Singer Rihanna was born and raised in Barbados. Although the better portion of her work mainly appeals to R&B audiences, her first album Music of the Sun (2005) contains a mixture of Barbadian rhythms and American urban-pop songwriting, [6] just as her album Loud (2010) has a mixture of ragga / ska rhythms, along with pop music and R&B / hip hop. Robyn Rihanna Fenty was also declared Barbados' ambassador of tourism, which secured her a seat in the island's political arena from 2011 to 2014. [7]
There are music, and sports festivals. At some of the festivals people wear costumes. [8]
Bajan cuisine includes a unique blend of foods with African, Indian and British influences. [10]
The national dish of Barbados is cou-cou and flying fish. [11]
In addition to flying fish, many other varieties of fish are found in the waters surrounding Barbados, including kingfish, swordfish, red snapper, yellow-fin tuna, albacore tuna, marlin, shark and mahi-mahi commonly called dolphin. Staples include sweet potato, yam, breadfruit, cassava, rice, English potato, pasta and cou-cou. [12]
Other very popular dishes include fried fish cakes, fish and chips, souse (a pickled pork dish), black pudding, macaroni pie, and sweet desserts such as tamarind balls and baked custard. [12]
Food sold by street vendors is popular on the island, and key locations include Baxter's Road near Bridgetown, and Oistins, with its Friday Night Fish Fry. [13]
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Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region next to North America and north of South America, and is the most easterly of the Caribbean islands. It lies on the boundary of the South American and Caribbean plates. Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown.
The music of Barbados includes distinctive national styles of folk and popular music, including elements of Western classical and religious music. The culture of Barbados is a syncretic mix of African and British elements, and the island's music reflects this mix through song types and styles, instrumentation, dances, and aesthetic principles.
Bajan, or Bajan Creole, is an English-based creole language with West/Central African and British influences spoken on the Caribbean island of Barbados. Bajan is primarily a spoken language, meaning that in general, standard English is used in print, in the media, in the judicial system, in government, and in day-to-day business, while Bajan is reserved for less formal situations, in music, or in social commentary. Ethnologue reports that, as of 2018, 30,000 Barbadians were native English speakers, while 260,000 natively spoke Bajan.
Rupert Clarke, best known by his stage name Rupee, is a soca musician from Barbados. He was born in the military barracks in Germany to a German mother and a Bajan father, who was serving in the British Armed Forces at the time. He later migrated to Barbados. He was signed to Atlantic Records.
A tuk band is a kind of Barbadian musical ensemble, which plays tuk or rukatuk music. They consist of a double-headed bass drum, triangle, flute and a snare drum; the traditional fiddle has most recently been replaced by the pennywhistle. The tuk band is based on the regimental bands of the British military, which played frequently during the colonial era. The Tuk Band is accompanied by characters that are African in origin. African tribes used costumed figures to represent elements such as fertility, witch doctors, and describing routes of commercial transportation, as well as having survived difficult times.
Crop Over is a traditional harvest festival which began in Barbados, having had its early beginnings on the sugar cane plantations during slavery.
The Barbados Land-ship is a cultural movement and organization, known for its entertaining parades, performances and dances. Members are said to mimic the British Navy, dressed in naval uniforms and marching and performing to the music of the Tuk band. However, it is a lot more than entertainment. The organization was started in the island of Barbados after Emancipation, by the earliest plantation workers of African Descent to help them develop socially and economically. The Barbados Land-ship Association is the umbrella body and is essentially a Friendly Society. Each community had a Land-ship. It is based on a cooperative system, operating within communities and providing common services to them. The Land-ship, as it is locally known, has been an oral tradition handed down from members to members from the time of its establishment in 1863. It is held among the ranks of Barbados' cultural symbols such as the "Mudda Sally" and the "Shaggy Bear", but in much more esteem as a "cultural icon unique to Barbados". It is thought that the Land-ship existed long before it became officially established and that the ways of the Land-ship were practised within the plantation communities of African slaves long before Emancipation Day. This would account for the interpretation of Land-ship maneuvers as re-enactments of the Middle Passage, an experience that would have been embedded into the minds of the first shipments of enslaved Africans to Barbados. During the latter part of slavery, slaves were bred and the plantations had very little need for imported slaves.
Anthony Carter, better known as Mighty Gabby or simply Gabby, is a Barbadian calypsonian and folk singer, and a Cultural Ambassador for the island of Barbados.
Alison Amanda Hinds is a British-born Bajan soca singer based in Barbados. Alison is often referred to as the "Queen of Soca" due to her significant impact on the genre.
The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the nation of Barbados.
Barbadians, more commonly known as Bajans, are people who are identified with the country of Barbados, by being citizens or their descendants in the Bajan diaspora. The connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Bajans, several of those connections exist and are collectively the source of their identity. Bajans are a multi-ethnic and multicultural society of various ethnic, religious and national origins; therefore Bajans do not necessarily equate their ethnicity with their Bajan nationality.
The National Cultural Foundation (NCF) is a statutory body in Barbados, created by an Act of Parliament in March 1983. It organises several major local Barbadian events, including Congaline, National Independence Festival of Creative Arts and the Crop Over festival, as well as sponsoring the Holders Opera Season celebration, the Holetown Festival, Barbados Jazz Festival and the Oistins Fish Festival.
Cou-cou, coo-coo, or fungie or fungi makes up part of the national dishes of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It consists mainly of cornmeal and okra (ochroes). Cornmeal, which comes readily packaged and is available at supermarkets islandwide, and okra, which can be found at supermarkets, vegetable markets and home gardens, are very inexpensive ingredients. Because these main components are inexpensive, the dish became common for many residents in Barbados' early colonial history. In Ghana, a similar meal of fermented corn or maize flour eaten with okra stew and fish is known as banku, a favourite dish of the Ga tribe in Accra.
Barbadian British people, Bajan Brits or British Barbadians, are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ethnic origins lie fully or partially in the Caribbean island of Barbados. The UK is home to the second largest Barbadian-born migrant population out of all the OECD countries, with the 2001 Census recording 21,601 UK residents born on the Caribbean island, compared to the 53,785 Barbadian-born residents of the United States.
Hypasounds, is a Barbadian male soca artist based in the Caribbean island of Barbados.
The historical ties between the governments of Barbados and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) are long and complex, including settlement, post-colonialism and modern bilateral relations. The two countries are related through common history spanning 339 years (1627–1966). Since the Barbadian date of political independence, these nations continue to share ties through the Commonwealth of Nations. Until becoming a Commonwealth republic in 2021, Barbados also shared the same Head of State, with Queen Elizabeth II as their Monarch.
Sports in Barbados are many and varied. The large Barbadian diaspora around the globe and wide-scale availability of International television covered on the local cable service and DirectTV has meant that Barbadians have always been up to date on international trends. Barbadians now follow a wide cross-section of sport from around the world. In recent years, the Barbadian government has implemented a policy of sport-based tourism. Including the hosting of the 2007 Cricket World Cup and various other events locally. Beyond this, the Barbadian calendar has many sporting events throughout the year.
Black Barbadians or Afro-Barbadians are Barbadians of entirely or predominantly African descent.
Barbadian cuisine, also called Bajan cuisine, is a mixture of African, Portuguese, Indian, Irish, Creole, Indigenous and British background. A typical meal consists of a main dish of meat or fish, normally marinated with a mixture of herbs and spices, hot side dishes, and one or more salads. The meal is usually served with one or more sauces.
Brucelee Almightee is a Barbadian soca musician and songwriter, best known for his hit song "Tomorrow," which won the prestigious Tune of the Crop award at the 2024 Flow Grand Kadooment in Barbados. The song became the most popular track of the event, being played 16 times as bands paraded before the judges, solidifying its place as a favorite during the festival.
