St. Kitts Travel Attractions: St. Kitts Music Festival

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St. Kitts Music Festival:

The year was 1996, and as Arrow out of Montserrat stepped onto the stage, which appropriately bordered the grounds of the Fort Thomas Hotel, it was quickly evident that the St. Kitts Music Festival would achieve its objective to increase tourist arrivals into the Federation, during the off -season.
It was June 27, and the night was electric. Somehow the Festival's Production Chairman at the time, Adrian Lam, managed to put together the right mix of Calypso, Jazz, R & B and reggae artistes for the first ever St. Kitts Music Festival. Additional to Arrow, the Thursday (Calypso) night's roster comprised local groups Nu Vybes and Small Axe Band; Krosfyah out of Barbados and Trinidad's Roy Cape Band which featured that year's Road March Monarch, Nigel Lewis.

No easy line-up that, by the beginning of the show, all stereotypes regarding Kittitians' reluctance to react appropriately at standing-room only concerts, were quickly dispelled. By the end of the show, which happened to coincide with the beginning of the next day, the artistes had the massive audience moving to the left, to the right, up north and down south.

Overnight, the St. Kitts Music Festival went from a position of obscurity to the Caribbean Festival to "keep an eye on". The organising committee was also commended for keeping the premises safe for festival patrons and for creating an event of great value for money. That year, tickets sold for EC$60.00 with Season passes going for a mere EC$240.00.

Armed only with an approved overdraft of EC$450.00, Festival officials soon realized that aggressive marketing and sponsorship targeting had to take place if the event had to be a success.

But finding patrons for this venture was not easy. Challenged by the use of the same sponsors for every Ministry of Tourism-sponsored event, a new approach was essential. Still, then Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Dwyer Astaphan and his Organising Committee remained steadfast en route to the achievement of their goals.

info@stkittsfestivals.com

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