Chief Executive Officer of the National Cultural Foundation Dr. Donna Hunte-Cox made the observation that Barbadians looked forward to the start of the Crop Over Festival but ‘Ironically there is a growing segment that looks forward to the end of the Festival for no other reason than to cover themselves in mud and paint so that they can jump up in the ‘best event’, the Roberts Manufacturing Foreday Morning Jam’.

The CEO was at the time speaking at the Press Launch which was attended by Mr. David Foster, Managing Director of Roberts Manufacturing, Ms. Natasha Lashley the Senior Marketing Representative, band leaders and members of the Press. Mr. Foster informed the gathering that his company had celebrated a decade of association with the event which had grown from six bands participating in the inaugural event and he is more than happy to remain as its sponsor as it is entering its eleventh year.

Ms. Renee Brathwaite of Jambalassie recalled the band’s participation in the very first Foreday Morning Jam, recounting that its seventy members jumped behind a small open back van with a sound system of just two speakers that sat atop the roof, with a popcorn generator which powered them. ‘We thank Roberts Manufacturing for staying with this, we have become established because of your dedication and we have grown to over six hundred strong with an established and respected brand.’ Ms Toni Thorne also confirmed the popularity of the jump up. ‘Last year my band entered with just three hundred people and this year we have tripled that with a waiting list of one hundred and fifty still hoping to get in’.

Coordinator Marc Massiah opined that the Roberts Manufacturing Foreday Morning Jam is on par with Grand Kadooment, with twenty four bands registered with a total of 8,500 revelers expected to make the trek from Carlisle Car Park to Spring Garden Highway, approximately 4 km. The Barbados Foreday Morning jam is the equivalent to Jouvert in the other West Indian islands.