Antigua puts off music festival

St John's, Antigua

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, April 17, 2009 – Antigua and Barbuda is putting its Romantic Rhythms Music Festival on the backburner this year after a one-time hosting of the event.

The worsening global economic crisis has been blamed for the decision but the Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture, Eleston Adams, said the festival which featured local, regional and international performers will resume in 2010.

He said many options were considered prior to taking the final decision to postpone the festival, including reducing the number of artistes and decreasing the number of days of the event.

Adams said it was ultimately decided that altering the standard of the event would only damage the Romantic Rhythms brand.

“It was a very difficult decision to postpone Romantic Rhythms 2009 but given the current economic crisis we feel it is the prudent thing to do,” he said.

“We set a very high standard for our first year. Significant resources were put into marketing the event and establishing the Romantic Rhythms brand. Since we do not have the resources this year to match or better that standard set in 2008, we feel that the event should be postponed. This will allow us to maintain the brand equity that was built last year and give us an opportunity to focus our resources on planning for an even more spectacular event in 2010,” Adams added.

The junior minister said that negotiations are already in progress to secure the best international performers for 2010. He said the new dates and line-up will be announced in the near future.

The Romantic Rhythms Music Festival was held for the first time last year, from June 12th to 15th , and featured performances from Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, Brian McKnight, and Keyshia Cole alongside other first class regional and local artistes.

Meantime, over in St Lucia, preparations are being made for the 2009 Jazz Festival slated for May 2nd to 10th.

Organisers are hoping that British Grammy-winning stars Amy Winehouse and Estelle, along with musical greats such as Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, James Ingram and Bebe Winans, will attract visitors and international media to the upcoming festival.

Top local musicians such as guitarist Ronald "Boo" Hinkson, saxophonist Barbara Cadet, singers Michel Aubertin, Teddyson John, and Nicole David will also perform alongside regional artistes such as Jamaica's Original Wailers, the former reggae band of Bob Marley.