French-side Carnival earlier this month and the just completed four-day Heineken Regatta are followed this week by the SXM Music Festival, while the Kick Off Block Party and Causeway Jump-Up respectively Friday and Saturday will mark the start of St. Maarten’s 2025 Carnival pre-season. In addition, a series of four “Les Mardis de Grand Case” starts today, Tuesday.
The destination is known as a place where visitors are able to have fun and these types of activities certainly strengthen that image. Moreover, Carnival on the Dutch side climaxes after Easter, which helps extend the traditional winter tourism season into early May.
A “new” addition is the Soul Beach Music Festival May 21-26 during the US Memorial Day Weekend. It is actually “returning to its roots” because the event started on “The Friendly Island” 29 years ago before moving to Aruba. The line-up of artistes reportedly includes Charlie Wilson, Muni Long and Cedric the Entertainer, along with hosts Doug E. Fresh, Chris Spencer and Special Guest DJ Envy.
All these things cost taxpayers money in subsidies, but they play an important role in offering guests exciting and worthwhile experiences. These not only help bring them here, but hopefully they return in the near future.
The extent of their economic contribution was significant in cases where studies have been done. That aspect of continuous up-to-date measuring of real impact should not be overlooked, however.
A prime example is the very successful Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival (CNSJF), where considerable private initiative and investment was accompanied by regular, comprehensive scientific academic research. The results led to informed decision-making and fine-tuning, based on the premise that what is good can always get better.
