Why You Need to Attend This Legendary Caribbean Music Festival 

In Dominica this fall, the music will echo. Echo through generations, through genres, through islands and continents. This is a celebration of identity, of memory, and of magic.

The Ministry of Tourism and the Discover Dominica Authority have officially launched the 25th edition of the World Creole Music Festival, returning October 24–26, 2025, to the Windsor Park Sports Stadium in Roseau. And this year, the silver anniversary celebration carries a name befitting its legacy: “Global Echoes of the Nature Island: Celebrating 25 Years of Creole Music, Magic, and Memories.”

Over three nights and more than two dozen performances, Dominica’s capital will become the epicenter of Creole expression — a place where rhythm isn’t just heard but inherited. From pioneering bands to genre-bending stars, the lineup is a living archive of the region’s cultural evolution, curated to honor the past and push the sound forward.

“For 25 years, the World Creole Music Festival has amplified the voices of Creole people everywhere,” said Marva Williams, CEO of the Discover Dominica Authority. “This is not just a show. It’s a statement — about who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going.”

Night One: Fire & Foundation — October 24

The stage opens with reverence. Legends take their place under the lights:
Burning Flames from Antigua. Dominica’s own Midnight Groovers, Halibut, and Gilles Fontaine. Haiti’s Nu Lookand Jamaica’s Romain Virgo join the call. From St. Maarten, Oswald. From the UK and Jamaica, the iconic Steel Pulse. This is a night built on roots — a tribute to the innovators and storytellers who made the music a movement.

Night Two: Creole Carnival — October 25

Then the temperature rises.
This is the night for revelry, for rhythm that doesn’t pause.
Dominica’s Asa Bantan, WCK, and The Bouyon Assembly unleash their sound. Legends Gordon Henderson and Ophelia Marie remind us where the soul of the island lives. Kes the Band, Spice, and the unmistakable voice of Vybez Kartel bring the broader Caribbean into the fold. It’s dance, defiance, and pure Creole joy.

Night Three: The Grand Finale — October 26

The final night goes global.
From Nigeria, Tiwa Savage brings Afrobeats to Roseau. Trinidad’s power duo Bunji Garlin and Fay-Ann Lyons set the tone. Dominica’s next generation — Elisha Benoit, Nice, Reo, and more — step forward. Kassav returns. Michele Henderson sings for home. And the lights dim not in silence, but in crescendo.

The World Creole Music Festival was born in 1997. It was never meant to be ordinary. Over 25 years, that stage has become sacred. The genres it celebrates — zouk, bouyon, kompa, reggae, soca, dancehall, afrobeat — have evolved, intertwined, and multiplied. And Dominica has remained the bridge between them all.

But the music is just the beginning.

Fringe events, pop-ups, street parties — Roseau will be alive with movement before and after the stadium gates open. And beyond the city, the island calls. Hike to Boiling Lake. Swim in the Emerald Pool. Spend a day at the beach, and a night under stars and speakers. This isn’t just a concert weekend — it’s a two-week portal into what makes Dominica unforgettable.

Even better? Dominica has never been easier to get to, from American Airlines’ flights from Miami to the expanding service on United from Newark.

If you’re attending the festival, there’s one great place to stay: the Fort Young hotel, the historic, transformed hotel in downtown Roseau that’s one of our favorite, most authentic Caribbean hotels.