Founded in 1993 by Wendy Madeleine Kidd (the mother of models Jodie Kidd and Jemma Kidd), this Caribbean arts festival is now held annually in Barbados during March and April at Holder's House, an old plantation mansion set in extensive grounds, just inland from Sandy Lane Bay, Barbados.

Classical concerts and opera are performed in period costumes in the open air under the mahogany and palm trees and quality actors, singers and musicians are flown in (particularly from Britain).

1997 saw the re-staging after 170 years of Inkle and Yarico - an eighteenth-century opera about a traditional Barbadian legend that was once all the rage in London's West End - as well as a concert by Luciano Pavarotti and a festival of calypso music with contributions by top performers from Trinidad and Barbados.

Other unique or one-off performances have included the world première of a new opera by Stewart Copeland.

2009 saw actor David Suchet host a mixture of music and comedy with Patrick Kielty.

Giovanni Hidalgo a.k.a. "Mañenguito" (born November 22, 1963) is an educator, percussionist and recording artist in the genre' of Latin jazz.

Hidalgo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico where he received his primary education. His grandfather had also been a musician, as well as his father José Manuel Hidalgo "Mañengue", who was a renowned conga player. Therefore, Hidalgo was raised in a household surrounded by drums, bongos, congas and timbales. He received a conga for his eighth birthday which had been handmade by his father. As a young child he practiced and developed his speed and playing skills on the conga and on the other instruments in his house. Hidalgo would drum a tune with sticks and then play the same tune with his hands.

Hidalgo auditioned and was hired by the Batacumbele Band in 1980. In 1981, he traveled with the band to Cuba where he met a musician by the name of José Luis Quintana "Changuito". Together they were able to create a unique style of rhythm and ushered in a new musical era in Latin music.