Literally Livin’ in the Sun in Anguilla

Livin’ in the Sun 2017 is January 5-7, 2018

Escape. Dance. Free Yourself! Literally, live in the sun while moving to the beat of the music! A weekend of excitement; Anguilla’s 1st annual music festival in November, ‘Livin’ In The Sun’, featured 11 deejays from all over the world for a 2 day 3 night “audio and visual feast for the mind”. There’s no turning back once you’ve lived in the sun!

The music festival consisted of 6 consecutive events from Friday night ‘til the break of Monday morn. The audio visual company, Titanium Sounds, brought the entire rainbow to the events as though the pot of gold was hidden there. Come to think of it, maybe it was as every night was lit with bright, vibrant, eye catching lights and an atmosphere infused with heart skipping beats.

Just a boat ride away from Anguilla was a beach party on an even smaller island in the middle of the ocean, Sandy Island! The hot and sizzling daytime events hosted there were all you needed after the super chill nighttime events held on Anguilla which were skillfully managed by the Livin’ in the Sun team.

On Friday, the festival began with an ‘All White’ party entitled “Hello Helios” at The Reef, CuisinArt’s newly opened estate – this event being a “nod to the greek sun god, Helios”. The venue was more of a subtle environment to kick off the fest but it quickly picked up pace as later that night, we lit up the night at Anguilla Great House Resort. There, persons were swaying to the music and pumping their fists in the air amidst the flashing lights coming from the spotlights and photographers. Drinks by the bar and a man on the grill; nothing but endless vibes.

On Saturday and Sunday, the beach party on Sandy Island could be termed “HOT”, but that would be an understatement. How about something more like “Livin’ in the sun”? That’s more like it! A very breezy boat ride over to the island broke the ice between persons; laughing, mingling and covering their skin with sunscreen. Just taking in the scenery of the little island from sea and feeling the world wide love would have satisfied anyone going there for the first time.

On arrival, we found lots of comfortable seating areas, two gazebos; one for the deejays and the other for the kitchen. The whole day was spent dancing to the DJs performances like no one was watching, lounging about on the beach chairs, playing beach volleyball and football, jumping into the crystal clear water, eating the exceptional food and tilting cups “bottoms up” and more.

The music festival lineup included  DJ Krave from The Big Apple, Walshy Fire of Major Lazer from Miami, Supernova from Italy, Spirits in Motion from California/New Orleans, Nathan Barato from Canada, Kristel Morin from Australia, Patrice Gero and Jimmy Sax from St. Barths, Brothers Grimm from South Africa, DJ Yooshe from The Bronx, NY and Anguilla’s very own, DJ Sugar all contributed to an uber music festival!

I couldn’t have spent my day any better! Practically marooned on Sandy Island, persons were doing this since 10am and maintained the same energy from start to finish at 4pm for both days! And as the saying goes, “if you can’t beat them, join them!”, so I did and I have no regrets, it was worth it! One tourist approached me with a plate of grilled chicken in his hand while dancing and hollered, “I’m just enjoying life like there’s no tomorrow!”, I couldn’t help but just dance and join in fun.

We later had to pause for a cause because there was no way we couldn’t NOT do the Mannequin Challenge! You should have seen the radical poses and persons keeping still to capture the excitement! ‘Twas truly a kodak moment.

The second nighttime event was hosted at Bankie Bank’s Dune Preserve and was rightfully titled “Moon Shine” owing to the venue being the location of one of Anguilla’s largest and most anticipated music festivals, Moonsplash, and the night being a moon lit party. An “uber-hip uber-cool night of lounge beats and dubstep” in a location which was voted #1 Beach Bar in the World by CNN and to end it off… Sunday night…

Most, if not everybody hates Monday, but, with a Luau-inspired party from 10pm on Sunday till sunrise, this Monday was not your regular Monday. The beautiful vocals of Natty and her captivating band, The House, along with other performances at Nat’s Place (Palmgrove) in Junks Hole was the perfect way to end a weekend of straight feting. And, with watching the sun rise over the ocean to start your week, you can’t leave without knowing the true meaning of Livin’ in the Sun.

I’m already anticipating next year’s turn up. With this being their first music fest, I’m hype to know who’ll be coming next year especially since it’ll be even greater in the years to come. The date is already set for November 24 – 26, 2017.

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Photo credits: ERogers Photography

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