Anguilla’s Moonsplash

Bankie Banx, who formed his band The Roots and Herbs in 1970, was one of the Eastern Caribbean's first reggae artists. After years of traveling through Europe, he ended up in New York, where he developed his distinct sound, a fusion of folk and reggae, earning him the moniker "the Anguillan Bob Dylan." Banx began organizing the annual event in the early 1990s. Originally conceived as a series of beach concerts on Anguilla and the surrounding islands, the event grew and eventually found a home at Banx's Dune Preserve. The Rendezvous Bay bar/restaurant, formerly known as Planet Dune, is made of old boats and salvaged wood and serves as the main stage for the three-day event- the Moonsplash festival. Anguillan musicians are now honored at the island's March festival, the Moonsplash festival. Along with three other festivals, it is among the four most famous festivals in Anguilla

Steel Pulse, Third World, Inner Circle, Buju Banton, Toots & The Maytals, Jimmy Buffett, and John Mayer have all graced the ramshackle stage of this annual three-day music festival over the years. The festival is low-key even by Caribbean standards, serving as a cultural counterpoint to Anguilla's upscale hotels and enclaves: think driftwood bars and buildings, blissed-out revelers lounging on the beach all night, and world-class music performed in the most unlikely of settings.

Takes place: in February