The recent SounDown Music and Art Festival, headlined by Dutch DJ Dannic and Major Lazer’s Walshy Fire, has been hailed by organisers as a “historic moment” that positions Guyana as a serious contender on the international entertainment tourism map.The festival, held on December 6 at the Marriott Beachfront, welcomed nearly 3,000 patrons, marking a significant 25% increase over the earlier Storm25 event in August.Tariq Dakhil, one of the organisers with BPM Guyana, reflected on the event’s success, noting that it validated a vision that began almost a decade ago.“SounDown demonstrated, in a very real and visible way, the potential that electronic music and large-scale cultural events have within our tourism and creative landscape,” Dakhil stated.“Myself, Rosanna Fung, and Kristian Jeffrey have been building this scene since 2017 purely out of love for the genre,” he added.“Seeing SounDown come to life with international headliners leading the charge was a powerful validation of how far the movement has come.”The festival’s most impactful feedback centred on its world-class production, a conscious goal of BPM Guyana’s planning team.Dakhil described the preparation as “extremely intricate and intentional,” emphasising that no resource was spared in production.This required extensive collaboration across borders, with teams from Curaçao, Suriname and Trinidad working alongside Guyanese crews on stage design, special effects and the full audio/visual execution.The BPM Guyana team! From left: Kristian Jeffrey, Rosanna Fung and Tariq Dakhil (PHOTO: News Room/Davin Ramnarine) Their combined efforts paid off with patrons expressing that SounDown felt like a “true international EDM festival rather than a local event,” praising the stage design, lighting, and sound quality.“The event proved that with the right expertise and commitment, Guyana can deliver at an international standard,” Dakhil noted.He highlighted that the current production represents only “about 20% of our full vision for a major festival.”BPM Guyana’s core mission is to position the country as the “next EDM hotspot in the world”, and this ambition has found high-level political resonance.The recognition and support from President Dr. Irfaan Ali, as well as the public sharing of highlights from the event, suggest a strong alignment between the festival and the national vision for entertainment tourism.“His broader vision of Guyana as a hub for entertainment tourism aligns directly with what we are building,” Dakhil explained.Click to view slideshow.“That level of recognition reinforces our belief that 2026 will be the year Guyana pushes beyond perceived limits and firmly establishes itself on the international festival calendar.”The success of SounDown was achieved with the backing of key institutional and corporate partners, including President Ali’s government and the One Guyana initiative, as well as corporate sponsors such as ENet and Coca-Cola.Looking ahead to 2026, BPM Guyana plans to significantly expand its two major annual festivals, with the agenda including further scaling production, securing even more impactful global talent and extending the festivals into two-day experiences, all while continuing to foster and elevate local Guyanese talent.The post SounDown: How Guyana’s new EDM Festival is pushing for the International Stage appeared first on News Room Guyana.