2. Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival (Sept. 3-5)
Photo: Curacao Tourist Board
A spin-off of the original North Sea Jazz Festival held in Holland (still held yearly in early July) the Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival is one of the Caribbean’s largest annual concerts, drawing visitors from across Europe, North and South America and the Caribbean to the Dutch island. Performances take place across three stages (each named for a different musical legend—Sam Cooke, Celia Cruz and Sir Duke, aka Stevie Wonder) at the World Trade Center in Curacao’s Piscadera Bay, and have featured Prince, Stevie Wonder and Sting, to name a few. While we’d like to see more Caribbean flavor —only Wyclef Jean represents the region this year—this year’s lineup is stacked with heavyweight names in the areas of R&B, jazz and Latin music, including Usher, John Legend, the Isley Brothers, Lionel Richie, Enrique Iglesias, Cassandra Wilson and the Blind Boys of Alabama. See more info on this year’s event here.