For the first time ever, Saint Lucia will the hosting the Soleil Summer Festival!
After 25 years of hosting the traditional Jazz & Arts festival, Saint Lucia has launched the Saint Lucia Summer Festival made up of a series of six festivals taking place from Summer through Fall.
The Summer Festival series kicked off May 12 -14, 2017, with Saint Lucia Jazz, a celebration of Caribbean and international jazz music. The Saint Lucia Summer Festival events will take place across the island with three major concerts taking place at Pigeon Island National Landmark.
“With the new season of festivals, Saint Lucia aims to create opportunities for local artists and businesses that will enhance the visibility of the island as a vibrant and diverse cultural destination. We look forward to not only celebrating Saint Lucian traditions but also serving up a summer of fun and entertainment to visitors and locals alike.” explained Saint Lucia Minister for Tourism Dominic Fedee.
If you’re planning a TravelSmart getaway to Saint Lucia in the upcoming months, there’s still time to attend the following Saint Lucia Summer Festival events:
Saint Lucia Summer Festival: Food & Rum (August 24-27)
A Gastronomic event to attract the best chefs, wine connoisseurs, rum fanatics and food critiques from the Caribbean and internationally. This unique event promotes Saint Lucian and other Caribbean rums, restaurants, chefs, and regionally manufactured food and drink products to a regional and international audience. Enjoy food demonstrations, rum tasting, wine tasting, gastronomic dinners and community culinary experiences, all accompanied by musical and other artistic performances by young artists from Saint Lucia.
Saint Lucia Summer Festival: Country & Blues (September 15 – 17)
The festival will reflect the diversity and modernity of the genres of music that act as powerful storytellers of the past and draw strong parallels to Saint Lucian folk traditions. An encounter between genres of music that are rooted in folk traditions, with the musician serving as a storyteller and expressing the emotions, struggles, and hopes of real people. This festival reflects the richness, diversity, and modernity of these musical styles.
Saint Lucia Summer Festival: Arts & Heritage (October)
Building on the celebration of Jounen Kwéyòl (also known as Creole Day), which began in Saint Lucia in 1981, this month-long Festival is a celebration of the richness and diversity of Saint Lucia’s cultural, ethnic and artistic heritage. With musical, theatrical and other performances, with seminars and lectures, with varied culinary experiences, with street parties and with art exhibitions, this Festival will culminate on the weekend of 28 – 29 October with a celebration of International Creole Day in designated communities, marking the end of Saint Lucia’s first Summer of Festivals.