BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – HISTORY was created on Thursday night (June 26) when thousands of patrons turned out to see Calypso and Soca sensations in action, thus making this year’s ‘Jump Up Night’ the largest ever in the annual mega event.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes Entertainment, St. Kitts Music Festival Chairman Faron Lawrence declared that the Thursday night’s show had recorded the highest turnout of patrons in the history of the Festival.
He explained that based on previous years, the ‘Jump Up Night’ was the least attended night due to a number of factors, including the issue of work for some persons on the following day and the interest of artistes who would perform on that night.
“Just looking at the crowd last night (June 26), it was very clear. Normally, it was very sparse on Thursday nights, but this year it was filled all over. You could say that it was doubled in size as compared to other years,” Lawrence said.
He added that everything worked out in the Music Festival Committee’s favour after it had implemented a new approach to increase patrons’ attendance at the Thursday night’s show.
“We put a lot of work into it and we changed the model, promotion and advertising. The Minister, a couple of weeks ago, appealed to us to keep that night alive and don’t let the Thursday night die,” the Chairman said.
He said that apart from the changes the Committee made to make the ‘Jump Up Night’ more appealing, the public had also played a major role.
“The truth is, it worked last night (June 26), and the plan is to keep this same model, same approach and see if works again next year…We have to keep the same approach in order to be successful again,” Lawrence said.
For next year’s Music Festival, Lawrence said he has already been given a few suggestions for artistes’ selection. “For me personally, I would want to see Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. I saw her perform in Jamaica and it was awesome.”
