9. World Creole Music Festival
(Roseau, Dominica; Oct. 30-Nov. 1)
Photo: Martei Korley
Set against the Nature Island’s colorful festive season, which includes Creole Day and Independence celebrations, Dominica’s World Creole Music Festival is unique in its scope, the only festival of its size in the Caribbean to focus primarily on the region’s homegrown music styles. The three-day October festival spans all variations of Creole music from konpa to zouk and Dominica’s own sounds, cadence and bouyon, along with the occasional outlier from New Orleans or Africa, as well as major reggae, dancehall and soca acts. At the moment, we have no reason to believe that this year’s event, which is scheduled to feature Chronixx, Popcaan, Lady Saw Timaya, Olatunji, Blaxx along with Dominican staples Triple Kay, Asa Bantan and Ophelia Marie, will not go on as planned. Ideally, the event—one of Dominica’s largest annual tourism draws—will serve as an opportunity to advance rebuilding efforts following the destruction caused by Tropical Storm Erika. See here for details on this year’s concert, and watch our webisode on Dominica’s Creole culture here.