The SXM Festival will be back on both sides

SXMusic Festival has become the SXM Festival. What’s the reason for this slight modification?

The fact it was called SXMusic conflicted with another music festival. We didn’t do this on purpose and since we like those three letters so much, we thought that it would be the most efficient and least damaging rebranding in all our efforts to put our event on the world stage, which is something that everyone said would be impossible.

Looking back, what do you think about the first edition, which took place on March 9-13, 2016?

There were over 500 press articles and we were nominated for Best Foreign Festival by the UK Festival Awards. It was the first time that a Festival got nominated in its first year. It’s a tremendous honor and it proves to us that we did a good job. Generally speaking, festivals have the reputation of having rough starts…

The blockades and the rain didn’t "spoil" the festival too much?

After 14 months of hard work, opening the festival with a strike made us panic. It broke my heart to see tourists walking in the street with their huge suitcases trying to find their hotel in the dark with cars speeding past them...it was dangerous and it gave a bad first impression. Finally, the festival-goers found their way by Mont Vernon and the festival began. The whole ordeal was forgotten rather quickly! As to the rain, wow, no one thought that there was going to be so much. But what do you expect, that's life! The newspapers which were there didn't even talk about the negative aspects since they liked the island, its beauty and its culture so much. We conquered 2500 people. Next year, they're all coming back and are even bringing a friend along. So, surprisingly, there will be 5000 of us dancing on the beach.

There are rumors according to which the festival will be held only on the Dutch side this year...

The festival will be held on both sides. The problem is that the French side doesn’t have any discotheques, so it will necessarily host fewer events. The only way to have the same number of events would be to get a special permit enabling us to make noise until 5 am. And we are currently in negotiations. St Maarten gave us the permit and they already have the infrastructure. It’s extremely expensive to build a beach club for one week and doesn’t really make any sense. In any case, not at this stage. Anyway, our organization doesn’t see two sides, but one single island. The festival aims to promote the island all year round. We don’t make any distinction between the two sides. On the contrary, we emphasize the wealth of its dual culture.

Which places on the French side are going to host something in March 2017?

The program won’t be revealed until February. On the French side, we’re currently in negotiation with the Loterie Farm, Layla’s and Mercure. We’re also planning a VIP celebrity evening in a villa in Terres Basses. The Dutch side will host the nocturnal events. We’re now negotiating with the Sunset, the Sky Beach, the Soggy Dollar and the Tantra. One thing is sure: we won’t go to Orient Bay. It’s too far from the nocturnal events and we waste too much time with the transportation. The festival-goers indeed complained about two things last year: the price of the taxis - some charged $145 USD to go from Palm Beach to Maho - and transportation time between Orient Bay and the discotheques which made them miss some artists. There’s no point yet in having two stages with an attendance of 5000 people. Next year, there will be two, but perhaps we won’t go as far as Orient Bay. In any case, as soon as the festival  reaches an attendance of 10K and + as is expected in 2018 if everything goes as well as in 2016, we’ll be happy to return to Orient Bay. We’ll then be better prepared. We’ll have a bigger budget for buses and everything will be a lot better.

Were you disappointed with the reception on the French side?

All those who had tried to organize events on the French side told us that it was impossible and that the rules and laws were too strict and the procedures were too complicated but we didn’t want to be influenced by anyone. Kate Richardson from the Tourist Office and Pierre Brangé from the Collectivité gave us some pretty good advice on how to successfully achieve the project. Even though sometimes the rules from the mainland are difficult to apply outdoors or on a beach…despite everything they told us, the Security Council was very friendly with us. We hope to be able to sit down with the leaders and people in charge in order to ensure that the festival takes place with the least possible mishaps so that the number of festival-goers continues to increase and they want to come back to SXM every year and not only for the festival. The island’s interest is important to us!

What exactly will be the economic impact of the festival?

For the second edition, the budget is 1.5 million euros and the economic impact on the island will be more than 14 million. This money will go into the pockets of the hotels, restaurants, shops, and the people of the island! The media coverage about the island is estimated at 2 million euros. The festival indeed draws a lot of media coverage. For the island, it’s an international exposure which is different from the other islands at the present time: there’s a good reason to talk about St-Martin. With the economy which is reducing the budgets of the Tourist Office and the Collectivité, it can only be well received by the public that an independent organization is working so much to promote the island. The problem is taking it for granted. Although the event was invented in St-Martin and aims to help it, we won’t be able to continue to produce the festival without a minimum amount of aid in return. The success of the SXM festival and the rejuvenation of the island’s clientele will work only if the entire island unites and if each inhabitant and each person in charge participates. Change is everyone’s duty!