Saint Lucia Tourism Authority Chairman, Thaddeus Antoine, says this year’s events will be bigger than last year’s. Over 10,000 visitors traveled to Fair Helen for the festival, stimulating the local economy tremendously.

“This year, you will see an improved and additional day for Jazz…also, the increase in cost of hosting the festival, we ensure we chose artistes who give the great flavour of the festival in its own right, as well as being sustainable as we go forward,” Antoine said in a preemptive promotion of the festival.

Antoine says while the planning committee will include local artists in the lineup, the focus is to gather varied performers from around the world.

“Last year, we included iconic Saint Lucians, like Luther Francois. This year, there’s a greater focus on bringing new artists in. As we go forward, we try to create a platform for every artiste that we have. We also believe there’s a path to getting to the main stage,” he explained.

The SLTA Chairman encourages local performers to savour the process and gain experiences along the way.

“We encourage many local artistes to go to community events first like community jazz. From there, you perhaps move into the Mindoo Phillip Park and then the main stage. So we have a graduation process.”

The 2024 Jazz and Arts Festival runs from April 3oth to May 12th, 2024.