Barbados could possibly have a new staple on it’s events calendar.
The first ever Caribbean Music Festival kicked off with a bang last Sunday, April 28, 2024, atrracting thousands to the Farley Hill National Park in St Peter.
Persons came out in their numbers to see their favourite artists hailing from Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, and even as far as Nigeria.
The music festival got underway at 12:00 PM and delivered exceptional vibes throughout the entire evening, until just before 10:00 PM.
In the earlier portion of the evening, Barbadian artists Grateful Co, Mole, Leadpipe and Saddis, Edwin Yearwood, and Lil Rick graced the stage, performing many of their hits, backed by De Unit Band.
Soca lovers were given a treat when Nailah Blackman and Lyrikal hit the stage just before 6:00 PM. They commanded the stage, while performing many of their soca hits, including their 2024 release “Best Self”, which was well accepted by patrons.
They were followed closely by Everton Blender and Capleton who delivered solid performances.
Gyptian and Romain Virgo followed suit. They captivated the audience with flawless vocals and timeless hits, from even as far as 10 years ago. During his performance of “Dutty Man”, Virgo called on the audience to show their phone lights in support of women, as he addressed this worrying societal issue through his lyrics.
Afrobeat artist Joeboy did not disappoint. The Nigerian artist delivered hit after hit, with songs like “Love Nwantiti”, “Baby” and “Sip (Alcohol)”, which patrons sang word-for-word.
Trinidadian artist, Plumpy Boss received arguably the most crowd response of the night. His hit song, “Keep Up” received a massive crowd response and encore from those in attendance.
Valiant was another crowd favourite, who represented for the “barbies”. He performed some of his popular songs like “Barbies”, “Bubble Gum”, and “Dunce Cheque” before welcoming headline act 450 on stage.
450 got up close and personal with his fans during his performance. Navigating off stage and taking to the crowd, he delighted his many fans who attended the event eager to see him.
Speaking to Loop Entertainment, following a successful event, Managing Director, Vivian Fagan stated that he was “overwhelmed” by the huge turn-out. He revealed to media, that the VIP area was expanded, due to overwheming response from patrons.
“The VIP is bigger, we made it bigger to hold more people, we wanted to make people a bit more comfortable and have a better view of the stage.”
Fagan explained that even though setting up the venue was challenging, he was determined to give patrons an enjoyable experience.
“It’s challenging using this venue with all the foliage, trees and stuff like that, but next year we will go back to the drawing board. We will look at it to see how we can make changes. If we have to lessen VIP or if we have to do certain things to enhance the value of it, we will do it just to make it more pleasing for the patrons.”
The Managing Director further pointed to the fact that it was a no-voilence event, with no reported incidents.
“Everybody thinks its all about the dollars but putting on stuff, bringing people together, we got thousands of people out there and I haven’t seen one bit of violence. I haven’t seen a fight, haven’t seen a scuffle and that’s what we want to do, bring people together, enjoy music and have fun.”
Fagan also announced that the festival will be returning next year, bigger and better.
