The Roots and Soul Festival will be the second of several events under Soleil, the Saint Lucia Summer Festival, being hosted on island. The two-day Roots and Soul Festival will be staged at the Pigeon Island National Landmark targeting lovers of reggae, hip-hop and R&B. While there has been criticism of the concept, the CEO – Thomas Leonce – says the summer festival series of events, are designed to attract varied audiences locally, regionally, and internationally. The jazz festival he explains appeals to the African American visitor. The Roots and Soul festival is envisaged as being more appealing to the region. Leonce says although most of the reggae songs are sung in English, French Caribbean people have great love for reggae music. With the staging of Carnival he expects to attract the Saint Lucian diaspora in the US. and later on,culinary lovers he believes will come to St Lucia for the Food and Rum Festival.
