Saint Martin’s First-Ever SXMusic Festival
An outdoor electronic music festival with forest parties and infinity beach views
As the music festival scene continues to grow and grow, a new entrant—dedicated to electronic acts—will debut in March 2016 on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. Equal parts celebration of music, festival culture and the nearing-end of northern hemisphere winter weather, SXMusic will occupy a series of outdoor venues. There will be music on various beaches and beachside venues, followed by pop-up dance parties in forest retreats. Ultimately, SXMusic (named for St Martin’s airport code SXM) is aimed at exposing people to the culture of the island as much as the international performers.
“We’ve managed to pull together some of the very best talent from the underground dance music scene for a week-long, boutique festival experience featuring day and night parties at amazing venues dotted around the island,” festival founder Julian Prince (a Montreal-based DJ who has frequented the island for 12 years) explains to CH. Prince is expecting roughly 3,000 attendees and makes clear that while there’s a lot of value for passionate electronic music fans, “We welcome anybody adventurous and open-minded enough to want to join us.”
Talent factors heavily into Prince’s vision for the festival. “Names like Jamie Jones or Maceo Plex are superstars in our scene and regularly play in front of crowds of 20,000 plus. It’s nice that at SXMusic party goers will get see them play up close in a series of beautiful, intimate locations,” he says. It’s the locations, however, that set this festival apart from the rest. The festival hub will be an indoor/outdoor club known as Palm Beach. But, as Prince notes, “We will also have events at a number of cool, smaller late-night spots in the Maho area of Saint Martin, which will run until 5AM.” A tropical jungle location—which will remain a secret until festival time—will also play host to an event.
For anyone looking to make an escape as the dregs of winter stir one last time, the SXMusic Festival will run from 9 to 13 of March 2016. All indicators hint that its vibe offer up both excitement and relaxation.
Images courtesy of SXMusic
