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Yeahhhh, SXM-fest is back !

karinxxlPosted for Everyone to comment on, 5 years ago4 min read

Ow yeah, good news is back for 'my' former island. SXM fest is back to bring the biggest house and deephouse fest to the Caribbean region on the island of Sint Martin. Now this is still sort of an upcoming event since this will only be the third edition, but I really find it worth mentioning for everybody who really likes a good beat in the sun.





Ibiza has been known for years already for the centre of European clubbing on the beach, but the Caribbean was really lacking one of these kinds of places. A couple years back some guys wanted to make an alternative and they started planning SXM fest. Now I remember the first edition wasn't that big as yet. Happy bay was the main venue (yes that is a beach) and there were some sessions in clubs and what I mostly remember of it was a gigantic traffic jam. But hey, its a first edition, that means trial and error.


The second edition was totally different. Already weeks before I saw at Happy Bay that a gigantic stage was in the making but with all natural elements. Everything was wood and palmleaves and it was turning into a fantastic stage. The closing day festivities were held there and I had a fantastic day with dancing on the beach until deep in the night until it started to pour, hahaha. (Let's face it that is the liability of outdoor festivals)


Now there were multiple venues (clubs, beaches, villas, small bars) throughout the whole island which is a cool thing I find. This means that this festival is not only benefitting itself, but is also very much supporting the local economy and that is something that is well appreciated by all residents. Ofcourse also all of these visitors (4000 last edition) ofcourse had to sleep somewhere and buy food, so for that behalf these kinds of events are really a boost to the economy.


After the 2017 edition the BBC came with this video about Sint Martin island with as highlight this SXM fest. Also again a huge promotion seen by about millions of people throughout the world. We were extatic when the video came out because so much promotion was good for all of us, showing the different sides of what our island had to offer. 2018 edition was totally bound for success after seeing things like these ones, and reservations were already starting months and months beforehand.





But then... hurricane Irma came, leaving the whole island to trash and naturally a festival and festivities were on nobodies mind anymore as having a roof over the head was totally priority for all of us. By March a lot of things had been fixed again, but these kind of major events take time and planning, something that was not possible at all in the aftermath of hurricane Irma. 2018 edition was cancelled. Sad but true.


What is good is that the organisation of this festival took their losses and even donated loads of funds to get the island back and running. They stuck to this specific location and did not choose another island for the festival which I find really cool. So SXMfest is back in 2019! Most likely bigger and better than it even was in 2017, and I really have to say that I am getting a big feeling of FOMO for not being able to be there this year. Ej life is good, but for a weekender flying to the other side of the world is kind of ambitious I would say.


Nevertheless, if YOU have the time. Please go on 13th March to the 17th of March and do the honours of dancing for me!




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