In a press release by M.I.A Media, Inc. on May 22, 2023, the general public got its first glimpse into all that went well and didn’t go as planned with the 2023 Haitian Compas Festival.
This year’s Haitian Compas Festival, which took place at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami, FL, on May 20, 2023, marks the 25th anniversary of the annual event. The festival was originally started back in 1998 by co-founder Rodney Noel.
According to the press release, the Haitian Compas Festival continues to serve as an important cultural event to commemorate the Haitian flag & the Haitian people’s unmatched sense of pride in their country’s storied history.
The press release also detailed the main list of musical acts that participated in this year’s event.
The complete list of the kompa artists that performed at the 25th Annual Haitian Compas Festival can be found here.
While the 2023 Haitian Compas Festival featured a star-studded lineup of HMI singers & bands, there were, however, two major acts that were scheduled to perform but did not: Haitian kompa band Nu-Look (Arly Lariviere) and Haitian-American rap super-star Kodak Black did not perform.
The press release briefly discussed some details surrounding the absence of Kodak Black, arguably the most highly anticipated headliner at this year’s festival event.
Likewise, Nu-Look’s absence was attributed to the band’s lead singer Arly Larivière continuing to grieve the loss of his father, Daniel Lariviere, who was also a musical legend in his own right.
The press release also acknowledged the difficult task of putting together a cultural spectacle of this size, & thanked everyone involved in making this year’s event a reality.
The planning for next year’s 26th Annual Haitian Compas Festival is already underway and is currently scheduled for Saturday, May 18, 2024, the same date as Haitian Flag Day.