Soul Beach Music Festival
eyes island as next location
PHILIPSBURG--The Sinbad Soul Music Festival held here in May 1995 left an impression on the island and set the stage for what is now known as the Soul Beach Music Festival. It’s time for the festival to return to its roots.
The producers of Soul Beach, which has made Aruba its home for the past four years, have their eyes on St. Maarten/St. Martin. They have already signed a cooperation agreement with the French side and negotiations are ongoing with Dutch side officials.
Soul Beach Music Festival producer Mark Adkins of M.L. Management is excited about the prospect of bringing the festival here. Even more of a pull factor for him is the new state-of-the-art Festival Centre to be built on the site of Carnival Village. The centre, a project of Tourism Commissioner Theo Heyliger that is already designed and will be built soon, will have the capabilities for simultaneous broadcast of live show on television and the Internet.
“This [St. Maarten] is where it all started. St. Maarten took many chances with the festival and it took off,” said Adkins, who is the brother of comic entertainer Sinbad. HBO, now a festival partner, was sceptical about the broadcast capability when the festival started. “But St. Maarten proved it could be done.”
Once the Dutch side signs on for Soul Beach, slated for May 23-28, 2007, (Memorial Day weekend), the island will get media coverage from VH1 Soul, which has signed on as festival partner. “The festival will be promoted as VH1’s Spring Break event.”
According to Adkins, the island stands to gain some US $16 million in public relations plugs and promotion on television and radio and in print that will be disseminated in the United States and in the Caribbean. Promotion for the festival will begin as soon as the Dutch side signs on.
In Adkins’ estimation, the festival will generate some US $15 million for the local economy. “This beats the best high season week profits for some islands.” Large and small hotels as well as guesthouses, the airport and airlines will benefit from the festival, as they will be used by festival attendees.
Aside from the economic benefits of the festival, local talents will also have a moment in the spotlight as producers aim to give their audience a blend of neo-soul acts and a taste of the local musical scene. The performance line-up for 2007 is being worked out, with festival producers negotiating with records companies to book the breakout singers. Alicia Keys and Brian McKnight were headliners for the Aruba Festival this year.
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