Honorable (September) Mention
Photo: Andreas Terlaak/Curacao Tourist Board
The festival season is getting an extension this year, with some of the biggest shows typically held during August scheduled this year for early September.
An extension of the North Sea Jazz Festival held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival has become one of the biggest annual concert draws in the Caribbean since launching in 2010. The fest, happening Sept. 3-5 in Willemsted, focuses on R&B and jazz, rather than regional music—John Legend, the Isley Brothers and Lionel Richie headline—but Wyclef is on the bill. Curacao also hosts its first ever Latin music festival, Viva La Musica Latina, this weekend, featuring Jorge Celedón and Alberto Barros,. Yes, Curacao is a Dutch-speaking island but it’s proximity to Venezuela has brought demand for Latin music.
The One Love Festival, England’s biggest reggae fest, relocates for the second time in as many years, to Winchester, Hampshire, from Sept. 4 -6. The lineup includes Mykal Rose, Etana, Twinkle Brothers, Dawn Penn, Dennis Bovell & Dub Natty Sessions, Don Letts, Randy Valentine, plus some heavy weight sound system business including a meeting of Stone Love and Saxon Sound, and the 40th anniversary of King Tubby’s Sound System. Pull up!