World Creole Music Festival
Encyclopedia
The establishment of the Dominica World Creole Music Festival by the Dominica Festivals Commission ushered in the newest music festival in the Caribbean. This festival is widely seen as one of the only truly indigenous music event in Dominica
and the Eastern Caribbean by extension.
This festival was conceived out of a need to provide a platform for Dominican musicians and musical expressions, and to increase the island's visibility overseas.The annual World Creole Music Festival was created in 1997 as a means of boosting tourist arrivals to Dominica (during its Independence celebrations), and to increase revenue from stay-over visitors coming to the island for this celebration. The introduction of the festival was also expected to broaden Dominica's tourism product base and to promote creole music as a major musical art form.
The World Creole Music Festival has attracted some of the most renowned musical groups and soloists from the creole-speaking world. Groups such as Kassav, Tabou Combo, Exile One
, Grammacks
/New Generation, WCK
, Ti-Vice, First Serenade, Zouk Machine
, Magnum Band, Zin, Taxi Creole, Carimi among others as well as solo artists like Ophelia Marie
, Tanya St. Val, Sakis, and Franky Vincent have thrilled festival audiences over the years.
The festival in its formative years has given special focus to those musical genres that have their roots in various forms of musical fusion from the countries of the creole-speaking world. To date, musical forms that have gained exposure and dominance at the festival include Cadence-lypso
, Kompa, Zouk
, Soukous
, Bouyon
, Zydeco
(from the US state of Louisiana).In recent years, the festival has taken on a new dimension with the addition of a few fringe activities, i.e, Creole in the Park and Zouk on the River, two initiatives which encouraged participation from the local private sector.
Since the festival is held around the time of Dominicas Independence celebrations, patrons and visitors to the island are afforded numerous opportunities to sample the local cuisine and get an appreciation of the rich cultural attributes of The Nature Island. The popularity of the festival is seen through the rapid growth in the number of patrons attracted each year since 1997, hailing from North America
, the French Caribbean
, the USVI's, the UK and from OECS and CARICOM countries. From an initial 10,000 paid patrons at the first production, the festival witnessed a total attendance of well over 25,000 in 1999. This has meant a subsequent increase in hotel occupancy, government taxes, visitor expenditure, and important linkages to the various sub-sectors of the tourism industry, including the restaurant, transportation, art and craft among others.
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
and the Eastern Caribbean by extension.
This festival was conceived out of a need to provide a platform for Dominican musicians and musical expressions, and to increase the island's visibility overseas.The annual World Creole Music Festival was created in 1997 as a means of boosting tourist arrivals to Dominica (during its Independence celebrations), and to increase revenue from stay-over visitors coming to the island for this celebration. The introduction of the festival was also expected to broaden Dominica's tourism product base and to promote creole music as a major musical art form.
The World Creole Music Festival has attracted some of the most renowned musical groups and soloists from the creole-speaking world. Groups such as Kassav, Tabou Combo, Exile One
Exile One
Exile One is a legendary musical group of the 1970s from Dominica based in Guadeloupe. Gordon Henderson is the leader and founder of the famous musical group "Exile One" and the one who coined the name "Cadence-lypso" for a genre of music that revolutionized modern creole music worldwide....
, Grammacks
Grammacks
Grammacks was a 1970s musical group from Dominica.-Biography:The band was started in a village on the west coast called St. Joseph. The band was formed by Anthony "Curvin" Serrant, guitar Anthony "Tepam" George, bass Elon "Bollo" Rodniy drums and keyboard player McDonald "Mckie" Prosper. Jeff...
/New Generation, WCK
Windward Caribbean Kulture
The WCK Band was formed in 1988 in Dominica. The band played a blend of 'cadence-lypso' and Dominican 'Jing ping', which would later be labelled bouyon, a genre which they are credited with creating.-Discography:...
, Ti-Vice, First Serenade, Zouk Machine
Zouk Machine
Zouk Machine is an all-female zouk group from Guadeloupe which had several hits particularly in France, such as the summer number-one single on French SNEP Singles Chart "Maldon' ", in 1990 that sold over 1 million copies well more than any others zouk band, even Kassav.-History:Founded in 1986 by...
, Magnum Band, Zin, Taxi Creole, Carimi among others as well as solo artists like Ophelia Marie
Ophelia Marie
Ophelia Marie is a popular singer of cadence-lypso from Dominica in the 1980s. She is sometimes referred to as "Dominica's Lady of Song", and the "First Lady of Creole"...
, Tanya St. Val, Sakis, and Franky Vincent have thrilled festival audiences over the years.
The festival in its formative years has given special focus to those musical genres that have their roots in various forms of musical fusion from the countries of the creole-speaking world. To date, musical forms that have gained exposure and dominance at the festival include Cadence-lypso
Cadence-lypso
Cadence-lypso, popularized as simply Cadence is a cultural music of Dominica based in Guadeloupe in the early 1970s. Cadence-lypso is a fusion of Dominican and Caribbean/Latin rhythms and has totally revolutionized the music scence in its genre, and it has now become the main dance Music of...
, Kompa, Zouk
Zouk
Zouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe & Martinique. Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local Antillean Creole of French, although the word originally referred to, and is still used to refer to, a popular dance, based on the Polish dance, the...
, Soukous
Soukous
Soukous is a dance music genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo and French Congo during the 1930s and early 1940s, and which has gained popularity throughout Africa...
, Bouyon
Bouyon
Bouyon is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.Situated northwest of Nice, Bouyon offers magnificent panoramic views of the Alps, and features a traditional château and communal bread oven...
, Zydeco
Zydeco
Zydeco is a form of uniquely American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of "la la" Creole music...
(from the US state of Louisiana).In recent years, the festival has taken on a new dimension with the addition of a few fringe activities, i.e, Creole in the Park and Zouk on the River, two initiatives which encouraged participation from the local private sector.
Since the festival is held around the time of Dominicas Independence celebrations, patrons and visitors to the island are afforded numerous opportunities to sample the local cuisine and get an appreciation of the rich cultural attributes of The Nature Island. The popularity of the festival is seen through the rapid growth in the number of patrons attracted each year since 1997, hailing from North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, the French Caribbean
French Caribbean
The term French Caribbean varies in meaning with its usage and frame of reference. This ambiguity makes it very different from the term French West Indies, which refers to the specific, formal French possessions in the Caribbean region...
, the USVI's, the UK and from OECS and CARICOM countries. From an initial 10,000 paid patrons at the first production, the festival witnessed a total attendance of well over 25,000 in 1999. This has meant a subsequent increase in hotel occupancy, government taxes, visitor expenditure, and important linkages to the various sub-sectors of the tourism industry, including the restaurant, transportation, art and craft among others.