Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation, and International Transport, Tivanna Wharton, has confirmed record-breaking attendance figures at the 2024 St Kitts Music Festival, with over 24,000 patrons recorded across the first two nights.
“Well, these are record numbers that we’ve experienced, that the St Kitts Music Festival, from the tickets that risk and we were at 15,000. I know in the past, there has been speculation that we witnessed about 14,000, but we have the empirical data to show that we actually had 15,000 patrons at the venue last evening, and so we are truly, truly excited and pleased with eternals. We anticipated that this would be one of the largest, well, the largest eternals ever, and that’s what we achieved,” Wharton told The Saint Lucia Daily Post.
Friday night featured performances by Jamaican artists Jah Vinci, Barrington Levy, Chronic Law, Spice, and Vybz Kartel. Kartel, recently released after serving a 13-year prison sentence, delivered what many described as one of his most impactful performances to date, exceeding his allotted time and performing several hits from his catalogue.
Wharton emphasized that the significance of these numbers extends beyond ticket sales.
“The truth is, we do not focus solely on the tickets, the gate tickets. The festival was intended to drive economic activity, especially during the shoulder period. These figures suggest though, is that there’s an influx of visitors to our destination, which is exactly what we want to do. It means that our hotels, which are at 100% occupancy, are filled during a period that ordinarily they wouldn’t have been,” she said.
“And so this is what we intend to do with the St Kitts Music Festival. We want to drive economic activity. There is a spilloff into the community where our small businesses are benefiting. And so this is what these numbers reflect for us. We’re not focused on the gate receipts, but more so on the stimulation in our economy.”
Saturday’s performances included local acts such as the St Kitts Steel Orchestra, Ideli Napi, Collin Wyatt, and Dejour, rounding out a weekend that tourism officials are calling a significant success for the island’s entertainment and hospitality sectors.
