Hundreds of revellers danced through the night as the One Virgin Islands Music Fest was hailed as a unifying community gathering of “good vibes” for the territory.
Performers like Tarrus Riley, Masicka, Farmer Nappy, Protoje, Sistah Joyce, Revalation Da Royal and A Team Band filled the Cane Garden Bay beach with beats and attitude on Friday and Saturday nights.
Music lovers flocked to the sands to take up the atmosphere as the dancing continued into the small hours of the morning.
“I loved that it brought the community together,” attendee Sasha Santana told the Beacon. “I feel like there are not too many events that go on, so when there is something, it’s nice to see everyone there. I am from here, so when there is a community event, I am all for it.”
Ms. Santana, a dentist, praised the event for being trouble free.
“No trouble here at all: just dancing, drinks, good times,” she said. “It was great, the music that we saw was great. It was vibes. It was nice.”
Chris Heyworth was similarly pleased.
“Really enjoyed the laidback energy of the two nights,” he said. “Great to see everyone just out to have fun and get along.”
The festival — which was produced by KT Productions and its CEO, Kenny Thompson — appeared to go off incident-free.
It drew none of the criticism that followed a similar three-day music festival organised and funded by the government in Road Town in May. That event was followed by criticism from residents who believed it underperformed in terms of attendance.
Poker Run
To finish off the weekend of fun, the One VI Poker Run was held on Sunday.
Starting in Cane Garden Bay in the morning, speedboats headed out to collect large playing cards at each of several stops around the territory: Ocean’s Seven on Peter Island; the Cyril B.
Romney Tortola Pier Park on Tortola; the Trellis Bay Market on Beef Island; and Foxy’s at Great Harbour on Jost Van Dyke.
Then they returned to Cane Garden Bay to compare their poker hands.
Jordan Romney took first place, winning $8,000. Deyling Castro copped the second-place prize of $4,000, and Carlos Castro won $2,000 in third.
The day also included a fashion show on the beach outside Paradise Club, which drew big crowds as models paraded along a runway that stretched into the bay.
