New Providence will be filled with musical stars in June and July as two highly anticipated concert series will bring a string of popular musical guests to The Bahamas.
The Bahamas International Music Festival takes place between June 1 and 5 at different venues.
Trevor Davis, proprietor of Alpha Sounds Production, who is the organizer of this event, said he is very excited about the festival.
"It is something that we have been planning for the past six years," he said. "It is something that my organization always wanted to do, but like anything else we had to wait for the right time to do it."
The festival’s main attractions are reggae recording artists Shaggy and Beenie Man, who both have won Grammy Awards, and female soca artists Destra and Allison Hines. However, Mr. Davis said much of the focus will be on Bahamian artists.
"We will have a lot of the well-known Bahamian artists and then some of them who are just putting out sounds for the very first time," he added.
He mentioned that at this time there are about 20 Bahamian artists who will be featured and there are others to be added to the list.
The festivities will begin with a block party held at Arawak Cay. Mr. Davis explained that this will be a "pre-party" to start off the Labour Day holiday weekend.
On Labour Day, Friday, June 2, the first concert will be held at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, which will feature Shaggy, Allison Hines, Visage and KB among others.
On Saturday night, the second concert will feature Beenie Man, Destra, Extra band, Landlord and more Bahamian artists. This will also be held at the Queen Elizabeth Sport Centre.
Sunday night will be a "Rake ‘n Scrape" night at Montagu Beach followed by a sail away to a private beach party.
Mr. Davis said the concerts will be like no other because there will be no breaks between artists’ performances.
"When you get to the show at 9’o clock you will be entertained straight until 4am that next morning, so there won’t be an hour passed and there is nothing going on; you will always be entertained.
Tickets will go on sale on May 22 and can be purchased at Signature Styles, Divas Inc, The Juke Box and Alpha Sounds.
The prices are $90 for a two-night VIP package; $50 for a one night VIP package; and $30 for general admission.
The second event that is unrelated to the festival is the concert that will feature well-known recording artist Michael Bolton. The two-night show will take place at the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino on June 24 and 25.
Mr. Bolton will be the only performer for those nights.
However, the excitement will not stop there. On July 28 and 29 Motown recording group Boys II Men will be featured at the same venue.
Sharon Smith, manager of the box office at the Wyndham, said that these performances are a part of a series that is opened to the public.
"We are having artists come throughout the year," she said.
Tickets are already on sale and cost $79 for general admission; $99 for balcony seats; and VIP seats cost $109 each. The tickets may be purchased at the resort’s box office.
