SXM Festival Promises a Weeklong Island Party in Saint Martin

A tropical paradise filled with music, art, and nude beaches.

Author:: Joe Burchard
Publish date:: Mar 12, 2019

SXM Festival Main Stage — SXM Main Stage 2017 with Ricardo Villalobos

SXM Festival begins tomorrow with the promise of sunny island vibes, proper music, and immersive art experiences. Sprawling across the tropical paradise of Saint Martin, SXM calls upon close to 100 DJs and over 50 international artists to curate a unique festival flavor over the course of five days.

The Talent

The lineup showcases top talent from the underground, with highlights including heavy hitters like Nicole Moudaber, Archie Hamilton, Sonja Moonear, Zip, Apollonia, and Ricardo Villalobos to name a few. Expect the music to span across all types of electronic genres including house, breaks, electro, minimal, progressive and techno. The eclectic music is juxtaposed with handmade décor inspired by the indigenous Caribbean people, cultivating an authentic and unique contemporary island ambiance.

Saint Martin Flyover — Saint Martin - The Vegas of the Caribbean

The Location

Known colloquially as “the Vegas of the Caribbean,” Saint Martin offers its guests beach clubs, casinos, pool parties and stellar landscapes to explore. The island is revered for its tourism, with travelers snorkeling, sampling the renowned fusion cuisine, and lying out at the gorgeous nude beaches. Discovered by Christopher Columbus, the island was divided between Dutch and French sides in the 1600s. Over the decades, the French and Dutch nationals blended with the Creole native population to serve up a true mixing pot of cultures.

A Rebirth

SXM Festival gained prominence over its first two years with its beautiful location and the festival’s keen attention to detail. Though right as SXM was catching stride, tragedy hit when the category 5 hurricane, Irma, made landfall. Irma tore through the paradisiac isle damaging an estimated 90 percent of structures on the island and preventing SXM from taking place in 2018. The nationwide reconstruction effort has been swift and effective, with the majority of the island being repaired in only a few months. With the island returning to form, the 2019 edition seeks to become the best yet.