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Saint Lucia Delivers A Perfect Marriage Between the Arts and Entertainment

Capitalising on the Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival

The business of events and destinations are becoming almost intricately linked the world over and Saint Lucia has positioned itself amply in the limelight to capture not only the imaginations of event destination seekers, but the island has also been able to build a reputation for sinking its own foot prints in the sands of event paradise.

And keeping perfectly aligned with its record of exceptional growth across the tourism sector, the Saint Lucia Tourist Board continues to aggressively explore this avenue as an area of growth to complement the island’s overall tourism exploits.

With this in mind, the island has managed to created a faultless marriage between the arts and entertainment and the Tourist Board is so committed to, and confident of, the avenue of event marketing and growth, that it has allotted one–third of its total budget to the cause. This allows for special events to play an essential role in not only stimulating the destination but also strengthening its visibility in areas previously underexplored.

Topping the charts of Saint Lucia’s events calendar is undoubtedly its Jazz Festival, recently renamed the Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival, which has for the past 25-years constantly raised the bar for production, innovation and regional tourism standards.

The festival has recorded significant growth with thousands of visitors flocking to the island annually for an array of activities, from live jazz and other performances, to now poetry and fashion.

Leading the charge in this area is Dahlia Guard, who has for the past three years re-energized the festival not only in the area of marketing but also in eyes of Saint Lucians with renewed national pride, and across the Caribbean with diversity in entertainment and arts.

Guard, the Special Events Manager at the Saint Lucia Tourist Board is equally as eager to carry forward this charge in 2016 as she was at the beginning of her tenure in 2013.

This year more than before, the festival will include more stand alone arts events that have not been seen since its rebranding – all part of the continued process of diversification and exploration of new avenues of event management and presentation.

A part of Saint Lucia’s most renowned history is its production of two Nobel Prize winners in Economics and Literature in the likes of Sir Arthur Lewis and Sir Derek Walcott, respectively.

And for the first time, the Festival has sought to capitalize on the contributions of this outstanding achievement by including events like the play ‘Omeros’featuring the literary genius of Sir Derek Walcott.

This will be complemented with a tribute to Virginia Alexander – known for her tremendous contribution to the promotion of arts and culture in Saint Lucia. And though not honoured with a Nobel Prize, Alexander is recognized in the island as a Laureate in her own right.

“We are going big with visual arts as well with paintings, sculptures, fashion and the spoken word. There will even be an Arts Village,” declared the Tourist Board’s Events Director during her brief discussions with Business Focus OECS.

She pointed out that patrons to the Festival both locally and from outside of Saint Lucia have expressed the desire for more diversity in arts and culture to be added to the list of activities and this request has been honoured.

The outstanding track record of the Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival is global knowledge with stupendous performances on its stages delivered by a variety of outstanding artistes including UB-40, Kenny G, Trey Songz, Earth Wind and Fire, and Robin Thicke.

For 2016, the entertainment will marry an increased focus on the arts when the likes of Mark Anthony, Kool and the Gang, Shaggy and Omi graces the Pigeon Island stage between April 29 and May 8.

“No one year is equal or similar to the last,” Guard said. “There are always things that will wow you and it is never solely about the artists. We always try to exceed the expectations of our patrons – a considerable number of whom visit from the USA, Martinique and Trinidad. For them it is also about the food, the culinary experience, what happened on the airport, Jazz on the Square and all of the fringe activities come together.”

Among the other events almost uniquely Saint Lucian include the island’s Wedding Symposium in August and the 26-year sailing of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers in November-January, where up to 3,000 yachtees sail from Las Palmas to Saint Lucia in what is known as the largest transatlantic rally.

Guard and her Special Events department, support the Saint Lucia Tourist Board’s Marketing Department with these events, adding a new dimension to the event experience.

(Published March 2016)