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When the headache isn't financial, it's accommodation. Every year, the difficulties facing the volunteer organization of the Music Festival are the same. A repetition that systematically keeps them on a tightrope. This is no mean feat for the cultural event which, in addition to being the oldest on Saint-Barthélemy (the 42nd edition will be held in January 2026), is undoubtedly the most prestigious. Every year, dozens of internationally acclaimed artists flock to the island to illuminate it with their talents.
Dancers from the Corps de Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris, singers, conductors, virtuoso musicians - they all perform free of charge for local audiences. As a result, on an island that boasts 26 hotels with 536 rooms and 4,572 rooms with 1.113 villas declared to the Collectivité (figures taken from the Comité du Tourisme's Observatoire du tourisme 2023-2024 report), even in the middle of January, struggling to manage to accommodate prestigious guests sometimes seems incomprehensible to Festival organizers.
"If a cog is faulty... "
Next January, nearly sixty top-flight artists and technicians will bring the 42nd edition of the Festival de Musique to life. Six opera singers, two conductors, eight dancers (including four Etoiles) from the corps de ballet de l'Opéra de Paris, pianists, violinists, not to mention five jazz musicians. The projected budget for the 2026 edition is 220,780 euros, excluding accommodation: "The Festival relies on subsidies (100,000 euros from the Collectivité territoriale, 10.000 euros from the French government), sponsors, patrons and partnerships such as that with hotels and villas (sponsorship of which amounts to 151,200 euros for the 2026 edition)," explains president Corinne Hennequin. If one of these cogs goes wrong, the Festival may not take place. Because even with all the goodwill in the world, it won't work. "This year, Corinne Hennequin admits: "Accommodation is the main difficulty for the 2026 edition. "Without decent accommodation, there can be no Festival.
A growing craze
The Festival has existed for over forty years, and it worked," explains the president. Today, there are more and more rooms and villas on the island, yet it's becoming more complicated than before. "A lack of interest in culture? A drop in the level of involvement? Corinne Hennequin can't say. On the other hand, she is aware of the enthusiasm that not only remains, but is growing year on year. Many tourists come to Saint-Barthélemy at this time of year to attend the Festival," she assures us. Travel agencies call me to find out the dates of the concerts, so that they can arrange for their clients to come to the shows. "In fact, there are very few empty seats at the recitals offered throughout the event.
From January 9 to 19, the Saint-Barthélemy Music Festival celebrates its 42nd anniversary. It's a chance for the island of Saint-Barthélemy to become an even bigger part of a circle of cultural excellence. At least in the minds and imaginations of its many spectators. Over the next few weeks, Corinne Hennequin and the volunteers passionately committed to organizing the event will need to be sure that they can accommodate their prestigious guests. To this end, they are continuing to make contact. In the hope that these contacts will come to fruition, enabling them to approach the next few months, dedicated to all other aspects of the organization, in the most serene manner possible.
