Miami event and festival promoting enterprise Noel and Cecibon Productions announced this week that the 2017 edition of the Haitian Compas Festival will now be a two-day event. This is no doubt slamming music to the ears of Haitian konpa music fans and festival-goers. The Haitian Compas Festival has been ranked as one of the biggest Haitian music festivals in the USA, and one of the highest grossing festivals in the nation—period.

According to the festival’s website, the festival will be in its nineteenth year next year, and this is the first time that it’s structured as a two-day event. What is behind this rebranding? Could it be that the organizers realize that having the event over the course of two days will bring more fans? Or perhaps serve the dual purpose of promoting more up-and-coming talent besides the established headliners? Or is there new blood within the Haitian Compas Festival team, and they were brainstorming more innovative ideas and this was one of the ones they wanted to experiment with? Whatever the reason why the change was administered, it’s certainly commendable when a business entity tries new things.

According to the flyer released by the Haitian Compas Festival organizers on Day One of the festival, the following groups, bands, and artists will be performing: T-Vice, Tabou Combo, Djakout, Nu-Look, Rutshelle, Revelation Mizik, Kreyol La, Baky, Big Fa, and TPO.

Ada, who was a performer at the Afrikinfest will also hit the Compas Festival stage. Steph Lecor, who co-hosted the event last year, is on the performer roster as well. There seems to be a lot more feminine acts on the second day compared to the first day.

As far as the second day of the festival is concerned, the following bands and acts are scheduled to rock the stage: 509, Tropicana, Klass, Izolan, Darline Desca, DJ Queen, Harmonik, DJ Fwa, Tony Mixx, Nadia Faubert, Untouchable DJs, and Nicki Mix.

The festival will take place at Miami’s Bayfront Park on May 20th and 21st.

So, will you be making plans to attend?

CLICK HERE to visit the festival’s official website!

So the Haitian Compas Festival celebrated its nineteenth year this past May. The 20th Edition will take place in 2018, which is closer than it seems. For this year’s edition, there was an effort on the part of organizers to include Haitian-American performers. The presence of Haitian-Americans acts such as Kiddo Marv, Dejah Roh, Steph Lecor, Zoey Dollaz, Lajan Slim testified to that fact.

Here’s Steph Lecor doing her thing on stage. Her costume this year was very flashy, compared to what she wore last year. She certainly added an extra touch with her WonderWoman, superhero outfit.

Above: Steph Lecor performing at Bayfront Park Photo Credit: Chokarella

Having a two-day festival afforded the festival the opportunity to include more acts. There were several hip-hop groups flown in from Haiti, such as this band called Rockfam (photo below; credit: Chokarella).
The festival also served as a platform to introduce new bands, or at least publicize them. Mickael Guirand, the former leader of Carimi, wore a shirt with the name Vayb, heralded as the name of his upcoming band.

Kai, the band of his former Carimi bandmate Richard Cave, made its first official Haitian Compas Festival appearance. The band recently released its debut album, and released a second music video “Demisyone”. Seems that Carimi fans have healed somewhat. None seem to be clamoring for Carimi, but rather seem to be eager to see and explore the new productions ex-members are releasing. The festival was a great way for Kai to gauge fan reaction regarding its album.

Above: Singer Ada. Photo Credit: Ada Ayiti.

Also, there seemed to have been a campaign on the part of the Haitian Compas Festival helmers to introduce musical genres other than konpa. Singer-songwriter Ada Ayiti, whose style is a little more eclectic…kinda like world organic soul, performed on the first day of the festival, and received a warm reception from the festival crowd.

Above: Rodney Noel, the founder of the Haitian Compas Festival. Photo Credit: Vibe Kreyol.

Above: Lead singer of classic Haitian band Tabou Combo helped bridged generations at the Haitian Compas Festival. Photo Credit: Chokarella.

Back to the subject at hand…the two-day festival seems to be a perfect solution. Have not come across any complaints on social media regarding the two-day arrangement. So, this said, will the two-day trend be the norm from now on? Or was this just an experiment? If it was, it appears by most accounts that it proved to be a successful one, and one that can serve as blueprint for the next decade or so, perhaps? Festival organizers can choose to experiment a little bit more. Perhaps hold next year’s edition in Haiti to give those who have yet to visit Haiti or those who visited as little kids the chance to have yet another excuse to travel to Haiti.

Historically, the Haitian Compas Festival has been one of Miami’s biggest events and a festival chart-topper for that city, not to mention a big tourism and money-maker. How about a cruise or excursion…where the festival starts in Haiti and ends in Miami or vice-versa? This way dollars won’t be totally be taken from Miami (who has supported the festival from the start), and Haiti can still benefit culturally and financially. Food for thought.

This has been another report from your favorite chick Kreyolicious. Until next time!

Meanwhile…CLICK HERE to read other articles about Haitian music by your favorite chick Kreyolicious! Hooray!

CLICK HERE to get an overview of the history of the Haitian Compas Festival.