“A win, win, win, event,” is how Peter Boyce, producer of Golden Soca 2016 described the highly successful show which achieved its main objectives of presenting a quality event at a good price which made a tangible contribution to the Crop Over 2016 season.

At the recent presentation to BARP President Ed Bushell, Boyce said that he was also pleased to be able to make a contribution to BARP from the proceeds of Golden Soca. “Not only were we able to entertain BARP members, but we were able to make a contribution to the wellbeing of members through this contribution to their Personal Assistance Fund,” he added.

On receiving the presentation from Peter Boyce, BARP President Ed Bushell said that he was very grateful to the producers for the contribution from Golden Soca and that BARP was always looking for donations to the BARP Personal Assistance Fund to help those of its members who find themselves in dire straits. “We used to find that members needed help with housing repairs and such things whereas more and more, it is now going towards assistance with medical costs,” added President Bushell.

Another member of the production team, Michael Goodman, said how pleased he was to be able to present Dame Maizie Barker Welch as ‘Mabel‘ in one of her most celebrated roles from Okras in de Stew. Co-starring with Jennifer Walker as Lottie, they performed one of Jeanette Layne-Clarke’s hilarious sketches, bringing another dimension to the show. “Golden Soca is much more than just a concert,” explained Goodman, “and we plan to include more veteran performers and classic sketches and spoken material next time, so that it is a complete evening’s entertainment.”

Veteran calypsonian Cutloose who received a Golden Soca Award for being the oldest person to perform during Crop Over 2016, also made an appearance at today’s presentation. “It was very, very nice for me to be in the Golden Soca show,” said Cutloose, “and I have a song already which I am working on and hope to perform that at next year’s show.”

Boyce explained that the response to the event had been excellent. “People connected with us on social media and we received letters from people who were very satisfied with the event which targeted their demographic and was offered at a good price.”

However, despite many requests to present another Golden Soca event during the 50th Anniversary celebrations next month, the producers have decided to concentrate on building a bigger, better and ‘Goldener’ show for Crop Over 2017.