Unlike some calypso singers at Pic-O-De-Crop, Bridgetown Market never fails as an undisputed crowd puller and pleaser.
For two days Barbadians came out in their thousands to shop, drink, eat, lime, and strut along Spring Garden, then drop in for the stage performances at the site of the all-Bajan craft stalls.
As usual, the Barbadiana on display provided a satisfying attraction with a range of pickings from hand-crafted jewelry to wooden sculpture, weavings – and lots of food.
Vendors gave mixed reviews, with some reporting brisk business, and others saying last year was better.
Slyvester ‘Adelabu’ Clarke showing his skills on the table model loom.
“It’s been good. I find that more locals buy the work than the tourists,” said artist, Aduke Cheeseman, who has displayed her paintings at the market for the past five years.
Reflecting on her participation over the years, she said, “Sometimes it has been up or down”.
“. . . In the beginning when I came it was good, really good.”
For the adventurous ZR drivers, it was another year of one-way business as Barbadians and visitors packed their vehicles.
Not that the Transport Board buses weren’t packed also, but the ZRs lived up to their reputation by zipping off-route into gaps picking up and packing in passengers.
The fact that visitors and locals alike were willing to squeeze into already packed vans was testimony to how many people poured in the boulevard over the two days of Market hustle and bustle.