Vujaday Music Festival Barbados Review – A Wild Success!
“After an amazing first edition of the Vujaday Music Festival this past April, it is with great excitement we announce our return to Barbados for year two on April 3rd-7th, 2019! Experience paradise for the first time all over again with new locations, artists, and parties.”.
Barbados | People | Safari | Perpetual | Community | Name | DeJaVu | History | Videos
It was not hard to see why Ryan Kruger, the founder of Vujaday, choose Barbados. As he put it: “It is a tropical paradise and strikes the right balance of natural beauty with all mod cons”, adding that, “the modern lifestyle and conveniences are a must for the Vujaday audiences.”
Vujaday People
Vujaday people loved the miles of white sand beaches on an island of endless summer with a distinct culture and heritage and modernity. One thing that was especially appealing was the unique way in which the events were staged around the island. In all, there were five pop-up stages and the crowd enjoyed trekking from one to another.
Vujaday Barbados organizers carefully selected and scheduled events alternating between beach clubs and inland events staged in “stunning private residences with immaculate grounds and tropical beauty.” As Kruger says: “All of the sites were chosen to highlight the natural splendor of the island while allowing us to safely and efficiently execute memorable experiences.”
A Musical Safari
It is like a “Vujaday Barbados Music Safari”, said one first-time visitor to the island, who particularly loved discovering the island while jiving to the riveting Vujaday beat. It was like a Safari for those who used the shuttle bus and trekked across the island to events stages on the beach, in island plantations and on the rugged windswept Atlantic Coast.
Mikey Lion of Desert Hearts had the crowd swinging on day 3 at Copacabana – DJs included Lee Reynolds, Vienna based DJ Cassy, the legendary Mark Knight, and 3D (Dave Seaman, Darren Emerson, Danny Howells)
Fans and Performers in Perpetual Motion
Lee Reynolds leaves the stage to be part of the party on Vujaday Barbados day3
The 50 or so DJs played music and danced with the audience for 12 hours non-stop on each of the 5 days. They blended well with the crowd, enjoying ever moment of each performance as much as any fan. Many fans stepped in front of the camera to have their photos taken and share the moment with the world.
Vujaday1 at Priate’s Cove had everyone dancing to beat of Latmun and Solardo, Justin Martin, Chicago house and techno legend Green Velvet and Hot Creations Nathan Barato.
Cornwall House DJs played a stunning combination of house, techno and disco artists such as Art Department, DJ Abraham, Gaby Endo, Lauren Lane, YokoO, Nitin, Lee Foss, and Behrouz
Day 5 Copacabana was hot with fever on fire with Francesca Lombardo and a great line up that included Atish, Bedouin, DJ Luxe, DJ Tennis, Lee Burridge, Nature of Music, Salomé
Day 5 Fever on fire with Italian sensation Francesca Lombardo. Some took the opportunity to celebrate an occasion with their own fire!
Dj Amraham at Conrwall House in Bathsheba Day 4, built up a storm to serenade the howling winds and the steady surf in the background
Joy and Community
What was truly remarkable was the sense of joy and community. People were friendly and respectful. There never was any pushing and shoving. Everyone stood back to let other pass and apologized if they got in the way of our press cameras. It was delightful!
The events were very well organized and nicely balanced; from sultry “Fever” by Francesca Lombardo to the howling winds at Bathsheba blowing music by DJ Abraham over the ocean and Dream founder Lee Burridge.
Lee Burridge on the final night was spinning tables and syncing music to the crowd
View from cherry tree to the rugged windswept Atlantic Coast and Bathsheba, where fans partied through the night at Cornwall house on day 4
Vujaday: What’s in a Name
‘Vujaday’ was inspired by ‘Déjà Vu’, reversing the word. ‘Déjà vu’ is that feeling that you’ve experienced an event before, even though you may be experiencing it for the first time. “It’s weird enough even without reaching for metaphysical explanations.” That’s what cognitive psychologist, Dr. Anne Cleary, set out to examine — and the results were less eerie than you’d think. See more here >>
In transposing ‘Déjà vu’, ‘Vujaday’ is something like a butterfly effect. In fact their promotion, logos and stage setting have images of the butterfly.
The Vujaday butterfly
Edward Lorenz, the mild-mannered Massachusetts Institute of Technology meteorology professor, developed the concept of the butterfly effect to illustrate the idea of how complex dynamical systems exhibit unpredictable behaviours – such as that small variance in the initial conditions – could have profound and widely divergent effects on the system’s outcomes. We can see how a DJ’s interaction with the audience and their reaction change the entire course of a musical event.
Unlike Anything You Have Seen Before
Vujaday is not like anything you have experienced before because it has never happened exactly like that, ever. The music is improvised and very much based on the crowds’ reaction. The DJs experimented with effects, synthesizing sounds for the occasion. And, based on the audience response, they ignited the crowd by playing to the mood of the moment. They orchestrated multiple sound sources including DJ mixers, turntables, CDs, digital audio and computer-synthesised effects to create seamless streams of truly unique music. Their dance rhythms kept everyone on their feet, shuffling sand as they danced on the beach.
The fans, who never stopped moving to the beat, travelled thousands of miles to visit Barbados for this remarkable event. It wins our five star review for originality and sheer fun.
The good news is that they intend to be back!
A Brief History of Vujaday
Vujaday introduction to Barbados came with decades of experience in the festival and events planning. The founders operate world class clubs in Toronto such as Footwork Nightclub, Coda, The Hoxton and The Velvet Underground. They are known for staging Toronto, Canada events like Digital Dreams Music Festival, Electric Island, World Electronic Music Festival and All Day I Dream.
Vujaday Barbados also included a partnership with “The Confluence“, a creative media agency who have staged and promoted campaigns for international brands, conferences and music festivals in all parts of the world, over the last decade. They also teamed up with Norman Barrow, managing director of A&B Music in Barbados. Norman Barrow made sure that Bajan culture was respected and represented throughout Vujaday Barbados Music Festival.
Videos Sampling & Review for Each Day of the Music Festival
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