BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE long awaited lineup for the 15th Annual St. Kitts Music Festival scheduled for June 23 to 25 was released yesterday (May. 5) at a media launch held at the St. Kitts Marriott Hotel.
Although the venue is set for Warner Park, the organisers indicated that they are still uncertain which part of the park they would be occupying for the three-night event.
The opening night will see the Nu Vybes Band International Band, Small Axe Band, Ali Campbell’s UB40, Bunny Wailer, Mic Stokes, King Konris, Xman and The Kore featuring Gharlic.
On the following night, seven Jamaican acts will take the stage - Gyptian, Demarco, Konshens, Black Ryno, Maxi Priest, Coco Tea and Yellow Man.
The curtains will come down with Jah Cure, Commodores, Fantasia and East Meets West.
The press conference was hosted by Junie Liburd and in attendance were Music Festival Chairman Faron Lawrence, Venue and Infrastructure Chairman Stanley Franks and Production Director Adrian Lam.
Lawrence said a festival of this magnitude takes a lot of planning and hard work, while adding that the committee had worked tirelessly to put on a classy event in every aspect.
He said they have all the ingredients to put on a good event, as they have always tried to improve on previous events in different areas.
“The committee cannot do it alone, we also need Kittitians to put the word out to make it bigger and better,” Lawrence stressed.
Franks reiterated what it takes to host a music festival and noted that the venue is very important and also parking area which has been an issue over the years.
He said they wanted to have everything available on the grounds so that patrons would not have to leave the venue for anything.
The Production Director, before announcing the acts for the annual event, said the selection process was not an easy one.
“We usually begin this process in November and it took us up to last month, because there were factors that affected us greatly,” Lam noted.
Fantasia Barrino, who was called during the press conference, said on the phone that she is excited over coming to St. Kitts to perform at the festival.
“I am not a pretty singer, I am a soul singer. I come to bring good music and joy, so by the end of my show my shoes will be off and my hair will be wet,” she said.
Fantasia, an R&B soul singer who rose to fame after winning the third season of the reality television series American Idol in 2004, said she would make sure that at the end of the night people would say they got their money’s worth.
The ‘Some Guys Have All The Luck’ singer, Maxi Priest, was also called on the phone and he too expressed how excited he is about performing on the festival once more.
He added that he aims to be a part of the show and get everyone involved, and at the same time go from old to new.
Singer of the Small Axe Band ‘Mr. World’ also rendered a few words and said his band would give a high energy performance and hopes to bring the house down as it normally does.
LIME’s Country Manager David Lake was also present at the conference and handed over a $US100 000 to the Chairman of the committee.
This year, the committee has added a sub-committee which is responsible for local promotions.
The sub-committee has already hosted a number of events, and others include block parties, motorcades, a beach bash, Karaoke and DJ clashes that will take place from May 13 and every weekend leading up to the music festival.
Each event will also feature the MF Girls who were recently launched.
