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Check out the 2010 Music Festival Calendar...

Music is such an integral part of the Caribbean's allure that the movie version of the ideal vacation day would surely be capped by an exuberant live performance. What could be better than to dance along to some expertly played reggae, sultry zouk or raucous calypso in the tropical hotbed that hatched it?

But in the real-life version of the vacation, seeing the cream of Caribbean musicians do their thing in the Caribbean is not always as easy as you'd think: The most popular performers tour regularly overseas, and many local concerts are advertised mainly through word of mouth, so getting the who-what-when details can be a challenge. However, if you plan a trip to coincide with one of the region's many music festivals, you're guaranteed a show complete with top-notch acts from across the islands, who rock out in venues handpicked for their idyllic locations and all-around good vibes. These events – which last from three days to a week and take place in intimate, romantic settings or on elaborate stage sets – offer the opportunity to see top reggae bands or calypso singers onstage under starry skies, surrounded by fans showering copious cheers on their hometown heroes.

At the 13th annual St. Kitts Music Festival earlier this year, I saw reggae icon Burning Spear electrify a crowd of thousands of spectators, each hanging onto the artist's every conscious-minded lyric. Then Stephen Marley commanded the stage, strumming his guitar, shaking his dreadlocks and singing his own music, as well as that of his legendary father. As the lights dimmed and the familiar chords were struck, Marley backed away from the microphone and let an adoring crowd handle the chorus.

"Won't you help to sing these songs of freedom," we sang in unison. "'Cause all I ever have: Redemption songs, redemption songs."

Taking it all in from one of the bars, a local Rastafarian cheered Marley on with undiluted passion.

"We never had the opportunity to see his father," he beamed, "so it is meaningful that here is his son, right here in St. Kitts!"

Their enthusiasm for homegrown music might suggest why some of the region's music fests continue to thrive in spite of tough economic times. As cash-strapped governments cancelled or scaled down some shows and slashed budgets for international acts this year, more room was made for Caribbean performers. The St. Kitts event, attended by more than 3,500 fans each night, proved that it doesn't take American superstars to make a Caribbean music fest. Only the third night featured international talent, and it was decisively outsold by the two preceding nights, when the lineup comprised soca, reggae, calypso and dancehall artists exclusively.

At those shows, fans swooned when Jamaican lovers-rock legend Beres Hammond got down on one knee and serenaded them. They waved their St. Kitts and Nevis flags when King Konris, four-time calypso monarch, did his country proud yet again. They wined their waists when Trinidadian soca star Iwer George picked up the tempo and told them to "get on bad." Kittitians and visitors alike recognized a rare opportunity when they saw it: the chance to relish Caribbean music in its rightful setting. "We present international acts because we want to maintain a truly varied blend of music," explains St. Kitts' tourism minister Ricky Skerritt. "However, our unique balance has always been tipped toward 'Caribbeanization.' We are not a jazz festival and have never been one."

Check out the 2010 Music Festival Calendar...

Plenty of other Caribbean fests have adopted a similar philosophy. On Tortola, the BVI Music Festival features a star-studded Caribbean lineup that in 2009 drew from Puerto Rico to Trinidad. Dominica's World Creole Music Festival is the region's only fest dedicated to the Creole-speaking Caribbean, spotlighting Haitian zouk and Dominican bouyon artists. Jamaica's Reggae Sumfest includes international acts but is globally acknowledged as the ultimate reggae and dancehall show, an electrifying stamina test for music lovers who fly in from all over the world to see what their favorite performers will do onstage at 4 a.m.

Anguilla's Moonsplash Music Festival, a reggae fest presided over by musician and local legend Bankie Banx, has annually welcomed big-name Jamaican artists, including Inner Circle, Buju Banton and Third World to what might be the coolest venue on any island: Banx's own Dune Preserve. The cavernous beachside complex of bars and chill-out spaces carved from driftwood offers a seemingly endless array of nooks in which to relax, sip rum and revel in roots music.

And this year, amid all the cutbacks and cancellations, two music fests – both featuring exclusively Caribbean music – made their debut. Grenada's Rock D Spice Festival gave local stars such as the Tivoli Drummers and calypsonian King Ajamu the chance to share the stage with Jamaican acts such as Steel Pulse and Shaggy. The St. Martin Caribbean Festival delivered four nights of concerts featuring well-known artists whose music – from mellow Jamaican reggae to sexy Guadaloupian zouk to high-impact Dominican bouyon – spanned the islands.

Still, there's no shortage of international acts on the Caribbean circuit, and many of them, such as K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Chicago and Patti LaBelle, made the rounds this year. Nevertheless, local acts were hardly eclipsed. At the St. Lucia Jazz Festival, Chaka Khan and Chicago were showstoppers (and so was Amy Winehouse, though not in a good way), but so too were Beres Hammond, French-Antillean zouk group Kassav and local acts such as soca artist Teddyson "TJ" John. The Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival featured songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson and crooner Lionel Ritchie, but reggae star Maxi Priest, British songstress Estelle and Jewish reggae star Matisyahu (in his first Jamaican show ever) provided plenty of local-influenced flavor.

Ultimately, it was Tobago that proved that financial lemons can make sweet local lemonade. When funding for the island's Plymouth Jazz Festival fell through, the Tobago Jazz Experience was born, a weekend event with T&T written all over it. There was Pan Jazz in d Yard, Jazz on d Beach and a roaming Jazz Caravan, all featuring plenty of carnival spirit and homemade talent: veteran calypsonian David Rudder, rap-calypso fusion group 3canal, and former soca monarch and proud Tobagonian Shurwayne Winchester. It turned out to be an authentically local show, with true international appeal, which achieved a goal shared by the best regional music festivals: to keep Caribbean music alive and accessible in the magical places in which it was born.

Check out the 2010 Music Festival Calendar...