Events
SXM Festival 2025: the eighth edition drew visitors from 58 countries despite a cut in subsidy
The eighth SXM Festival ran on both sides of the island from 12 to 16 March 2025 with close to 70 DJs. Organisers said festival-goers came from 58 countries and the event survived a 30% cut in subsidy.
By SXM Daily ·
Reported 13 March 2025.
The eighth SXM Festival opened on Wednesday 12 March 2025 and ran until Sunday 16 March, with close to 70 international and local DJs playing at venues across the island, Le Pélican reported. The first night was at Bamboo Beach. The organisers told the paper the festival gathers about 5,000 festival-goers.
Photo: Richie Diesterheft from Santa Barbara, CA, USA / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, illustrative
A tighter budget
At a press conference before the launch, co-organiser Krystel Arbia said festival-goers had come from 58 countries, Faxinfo reported. She said obtaining grants remained a challenge and that without financial support the festival would have to limit capacity.
Faxinfo reported a 30% reduction in the subsidy that year. Arbia, who runs the festival with her brother Julian, said every dollar invested in it generates five dollars for the island's economy, and put its estimated economic impact at 15 to 18 million US dollars, with more than 500 local businesses involved. Those figures are the organisers' own estimates.
Since then
The organisers have announced a 10th-anniversary edition for 17 to 21 March 2027 on the festival website.
Sources
- https://www.lepelican-journal.com/sxm-festival-2025-le-programme-complet/
- https://www.faxinfo.fr/en/le-sxm-festival-2025-un-budget-serre-mais-une-ambition-intacte/
- https://sxmfestival.com/
Source: https://www.faxinfo.fr/en/le-sxm-festival-2025-un-budget-serre-mais-une-ambition-intacte/