Umpa, Subance For World Creole Music Festival

By Tony Nicholas

Saint Lucia’s unique genre of music “Dennery Segment” will be officially represented at this year’s World Creole Music Festival in Dominica. Export Saint Lucia in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture, and Information is spearheading the initiative.

Dominica’s 24th World Creole Music Festival (WCMF) will be held at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium in Dominica from October 25-27, 2024.

Two of the genres most experienced artistes, Umpa and Subance have been selected for the event and on Thursday, July 11, Export Saint Lucia and the Ministry of Tourism, alongside representatives from the Dominica World Creole Music Festival, hosted a joint press launch for the unveiling.

According to the Minister for Tourism, Dr. Ernest Hilaire, Saint Lucia has a unique closeness to Dominica, due in part to their shared Kweyol heritage.

“So many talented Dominican bands have performed in Saint Lucia over the years and likewise Saint Lucian bands going over to Dominica and this is perhaps due to our strong relationship because of our kweyolness,” the Minister said. “Hopefully, this collaboration opens new doors of opportunity between our two nations and sees more artistes perform in the future,” he added.

The CEO of Export Saint Lucia Sunita Daniel said Thursday that the two confirmed Dennery Segment artistes would serve as outstanding ambassadors for the genre and its growth.

“This musical genre has seen unprecedented growth over the last decade, accumulating millions of plays on streaming platforms and reaching markets as far as Japan. We are excited to have our artistes featured in this year’s WCMF lineup and expect them to deliver an electrifying performance as always,” said Daniel.

Andia Ravariere, Destination Marketing Manager for Dominica was also present at the launch.

She referred to Dennery Segment as an infectious rhythm that was capturing audiences regionally and internationally. “This year the Dominica World Creole Music Festival adds to the lineup two artistes who are putting Dennery Segment on the world stage. We are elated to have Umpa and Subance to give us a sweet taste of Saint Lucia on Sunday 27 October,” Ravariere said.

Umpa expressed gratitude for the support of Export Saint Lucia and the Government of Saint Lucia saying that he was very excited and looking forward to “mashing up” the World Creole Music Festival stage in October.

The Dennery Segment genre which emerged around 2010, has seen Government backed initiatives in 2018 and 2019 expose the artistes to audiences in Trinidad, New York and Miami.

In 2021, Umpa and Subance were part of a larger contingent of Saint Lucian artistes who performed at Expo Dubai.