St. Kitts Music Festival 2023 Kicks-Off With a Bang: Nailah Blackman, Patrice Roberts, Dexta Daps and more

It may only have been night one but St. Kitts Festival has kicked off with a bang!

Words: Miles Holder

We’re currently in St. Kitts for the St. Kitts Music festival and night one was off to a roaring success. With a great host of local and international talent, food and drink as far as the eye can see and a seemingly never-ending confetti and pyrotechnics budget, St. Kitts Music Festival’s night one was a roaring success.

A festival with seemingly no warm up acts – we stepped right into the action with explosive performances from favourites Nicha B, Mr. Bagnall and Akaiiusweet. The crowd level crescendo’d as Ricardo Drue took to the stage and the flags were out in force as islanders roared to show up and show out for their home islands.

Trinidadian songstress Nailah Blackman kicked things into high gear as the first female performer of the night. With girl power and female empowerment at the forefront, there wasn’t a straight leg in the house as Blackman performed her top hits and brought out collaborator Skinny Fabulous for a show-stopping performance of their hit “Come Home”. During her set, Blackman was sure to address and uplift all of the “independent women” in the crowd, explaining to FAULT in an exclusive backstage interview “I understand the place we women have in the world and I feel super proud to be a woman in this day and age and to see all the strides that we have made and keep making”.

Patrice Roberts kept spirits high with a whirlwind set and continued the theme of girl-power with her rendition of Beyonce ‘Run the World (Girls)’. Taking a momentary break from her hits – the crowd was treated to an unexpected stripped back cover of Libianca’s ‘People’ to highlight the importance of mental health and the need to check in with your friends. The party energy returned as the crowd whipped up into a frenzy the moment Patrice brought out long time partner and collaborator Ricardo Drue to perform their runaway hit ‘Toxic Love’.

The theme of companionship was an unexpected yet welcomed quirk of the whole evening. As performer after performer took time to remind audiences to think, thank and care for one another – the vibes were high in a way seldom seen from any other festival.

St Kitts Music Festival 2023

Our night was rounded off by another expert performance from Dexta Daps. Vocal prowess took centre stage as the artist crooned through his crowd pleasing hits and the mic was certainly on! When it comes to vocals, Dexta Daps can stand on any global stage and bring the house down with his unstoppable range.

It’s only day one and St. Kitts Music festival has positioned itself as a must experience festival – not only for Islanders but on a global footing. With the festival taking high safety measures and a crowd running on feel good vibes – as more and more sold out flights land into the island, we’re excited to see what’s to come the remaining two nights. Stay tuned to FAULT Magazine for a full roundup of the festival!

If you’re already planning on visiting – click here to access the digital guide