The festival opens with the ceremonial delivery of the last sugar cane of the season. A decorated cart pulled by a donkey carries the cane to the Plantation Owner — now a symbolic role — and a pair of costumed characters called Mr and Mrs Harding are set alight in effigy to mark the end of the harvest season and the start of the celebrations.
Throughout the festival, calypso singers compete in heats and finals, performing original songs judged on melody, lyrics, and stage presence. The winning song becomes the unofficial anthem of that year's Crop Over. Meanwhile, the island buzzes with fairs, food stalls, street dances called 'fetes', and art exhibitions.
The Grand Kadooment parade on the first Monday of August is the spectacular finale. Thousands of people dressed in dazzling costumes of feathers, sequins, and bright colours pour through the streets of Barbados, dancing to soca music on enormous sound trucks. It is one of the most colourful events in the entire Caribbean.