Romantic Rhythms Music Festival is a

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

that is set to take place in

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two maj ...

every year during the slow tourism season of May/June. The inaugural festival took place from the 13 to 16 June 2008. Headliners then included Keyshia Cole,

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

, Musiq Soulchild, Damian Marley, Destra Garcia, Brian McKnight and Maxi Priest. The first festival took place at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds built for

2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the ...

Origins

''Antigua and Barbuda, award winning destination for Weddings and Honeymoons, will burst onto the entertainment scene as the epitome of romance, when The Romantic Rhythms Festival is launched during the month of June 2008. Music aficionados will fall in love as the lyrical beauty engulfs the entire destination, spreading peace, love and unity to locals and visitors alike.'' - According to the festival promo. The Music Festival was the brainchild of the Antigua Minister of Tourism, Harold Lovell, his team and the chairman of the festival board, Dr. Alvin Edwards. The festival was to be a "shot in the arm" for the tourism slump around the months of May and June. It was meant to keep a steady flow of visitors into

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

between

Antigua Sailing Week Antigua Sailing Week is a week long yacht regatta held in the waters off English Harbour, St Pauls Antigua. It is one of Antigua's most notable events. Founded in 1967, it is cited as one of the top regattas in the world with 100 yachts, 1500 parti ...

in April and

Antigua Carnival The Antiguan Carnival is a celebration of the emancipation of slavery in the country held annually from the end of July to the first Tuesday in August. The most important day is that of the j'ouvert (or juvé), in which brass and steel bands perfo ...

in July/August. The original festival cost a reported US$2 Million to host.

Location

Full article: Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds Sir Vivian Richards Stadium is a multi-use, world class ultra-modern stadium in North Sound,

, named after

Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is an Antiguan retired cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Batting generally at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...

. It was built for use in the

where it hosted Super 8 matches. It holds 10,000 people normally, but temporary seating doubled its capacity for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. Its construction was financed by

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The stadium is strategically built on a site approximately 10–20 minutes drive from the capital city St. John's and the country's international airport (VC Bird International Airport). The venue cost an estimated US$60 million to build, with the majority of the funds comes from the Chinese Government grant.

Past Performers

{{columns-list , colwidth=15em, * Brian McKnight * Damian Marley * Destra Garcia *

Heather Headley Heather Headley (born October 5, 1974) is a Trinidadian-born American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the titular role of ''Aida''. She also won the 2010 Grammy Aw ...

* Keyshia Cole *

* Maxi Priest * Musiq Soulchild *

Shermain Jeremy Shermain Sunja Jeremy (born 24 June 1983) is an Antiguan singer and beauty pageant contestant, winner of the ''Miss Antigua and Barbuda Carnival Queen Show'' competition in 2002, and Jaycee's Caribbean queen show that year. In the Miss World 2004 ...

External links

Romantic Rhythms Music Festival website
Culture of Antigua and Barbuda Music festivals in the Caribbean Music festivals established in 2008