Hundreds of “Creatives” descended on Long Bay, Virgin Islands to attend Creative Retreat, an event which brings together artists, musicians, photographers, influencers, content creators and more. The event comes as Kickin It, a platform dedicated to Virgin Islands cultural preservation through modern mediums, celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Created by Kyra James-Douglas in 2016 Kickin It has held events around the world in places like London, England and on many of The Virgin Islands (both British and American).
The three-day Creative Retreat has been marketed as the ultimate immersive weekend for Virgin Islands Creatives who wish to network, collaborate, share and inspire.
The weekend event began on Friday, 16th October with Toast, an invitation-only dinner for an intimate group of 30. The diners were a mix of presenters for various sessions happening throughout the weekend, and recipients of the Kickin It Awards which are presented to Virgin Islands, Caribbean and Internarional Creatives who are pioneers in their mediums. This year’s honourees were the third and final set for Kickin It Honors. They were: DJ Puffy, Jessie Woo, DonYé Taylor, Rush Cam, Imani Ellis, Marvelus Williams, Rondel Smith, and VI Crawl (Nyaila Callwood & Khalarni Rivers) who according to a Kickin It press release, “are defining excellence across their respective genres industries.”
Day Two, themed Focus Day featured a full day of interactive presentations on topics from civic responsibility, financial planning, storytelling and more. Attendees will have the opportunity to focus on presentations which cater to their passions by following colour coded hand bans and to find like minds and each group was encouraged to dress in colours defined by a look book previously released.
Attendees have already began to rave about the presentations. Follows breathing and journaling by Elle, Angelique Lettsome and Kareem-Nelson Hull took participants through Virgin Islands National Heroes linking Monday’s upcoming holiday to the men and women it honours. VI Crawl’s Khalarni Rivers and Nyaila Callwood followed with a conversation about storytelling hosted by Gabrielle Querrad, a digital creator advocate.
The day will continue to feature some of the biggest names in the Creative space like Creative Director and Stylist. Travie Rozae, Host of the Caribbean’s #1 podcast ‘No NDA’, Rushane Campbell, Founder and CEO of Internationally- known event CULTURECON, Marvelous, DJ Puffy, and Kyra James-Douglas is also expected to take the stage.
Day Three will focus on Flow and features a bevy of activities ranging from pickle ball to classes on basket weaving, yoga and praise and worship.
Creative Retreat is Kickin It’s largest multi day event to date.