Two torrential downpours did nothing to stop Kreyolfest 2008, the eighth edition of the annual Compas music festival sponsored by the Haitian Times newspaper. The heavens let loose with floods of water while Alan Cave of the group Zin was performing and surprisingly, that seemed to make people party even harder, since they figured they were already wet. The rain was seen as a temporary inconvenience since most of the day was, dry, hot, and humid.
This particular edition of Kreyolfest was dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the legendary group Tabou Combo. There were other performances by T-Vice, Carimi, Black Parents, Zenglen, and Krezi Mizik. In addition to their repertoire, all the groups were asked to also perform one classic Tabou Combo song as a tribute.
Although not as well attended as previous editions of the festival, there may have been more viewers due to a live television broadcast in Haiti, as well additional broadcasts on the internet, and radio. Food vendors were plentiful, selling everything from traditional Haitian cuisine and corn on the cob, to ice cream. Other vendors sold Haitian arts and crafts, CDs and DVDs, and there was the ubiquitous Western Union stand, along with other companies interested in selling services to the Haitian Diaspora.
In an interesting twist, between acts, a Rara band made the rounds followed by dozens of dancing revelers. Rain or shine, the show went on, and people appeared to have had an excellent time.
That's how Haitians get down. Rain or not, we paid our money and were gonna party no matter what. I had fun. I was with the Rara band most of the time.
