Gospel artists Tony Lowe, Doranell Brown, and Vanessa Clarke (Divine Lady) took North Carolina by storm recently as part of the Biggie Fest Tour.

With an all-Bahamian showcase -- all original songs -- and promulgating the sounds and spirit of Junkanoo, gospel artists Tony Lowe, Doranell Brown and Vanessa Clarke (Divine Lady) took North Carolina by storm recently as part of the Biggie Fest Tour.

The powerful ministry of these Bahamian gospel artists in the Unites States (U.S.) last year has now sparked international interest and now their concert-goers are choosing The Bahamas as their next vacation spot. The tour was launched to promote the Bahamas Global Youth Festival, which was launched in Grand Bahama last year. However, organizers announced yesterday that Biggie Fest which was scheduled for the Easter break had been pushed back to a summer venue instead.

"Due to some logistical challenges and to accommodate our international guests who are making plans to attend this year's festival in The Bahamas, we have decided to host Biggie Fest at a later date. We want to make this an experience they will remember, as some of these persons will be coming to The Bahamas for the very first time," said Reverend Clinton Minnis, CEO and founder of the Bahamas Global Youth Festival.

"We need to plan additional tours for our visitors and immerse them in the Bahamian culture... the music... the people. Tony, Dora and Vanessa did more than just minister in music in North Carolina but they interacted with the people and showed them love, and shared information about our beautiful country. Now they all want to come and experience it for themselves.

"Even some of our international guests who were here at last year's event are making plans to come back this year. So for this reason, we had to make a tough decision and move the date back. We have to make sure we do this right," said Minnis.

The theme for this year is festival is "Immersed In Hope." To kick off opening night, the keynote speaker will be Elder Laquez Williams, founder of Potential Ministries at Jubilee Cathedral.

Biggie Fest has garnered some of the best talent on the island to host the three-night youth conclave -- Pastor Bruce "Hype" Russell, Ruth Cadet, Ministers Omeko Glinton, DJ Gyo and Fenrick Russell.
Minnis said the tour was a success.

"Grand Bahamian young people really know how to big it up. At the North Carolina Tour last year, the whole African diaspora was excited about the Bahamian invasion. We big up the culture as ambassadors for the country and for the kingdom of God," he said.

The trio, along with Minnis, travelled to North Carolina and was hosted by Together in Christ Ministries International, headed by Rev. Brickson and Annie Sam. The group was engaged to help with the church's building fund. As a result of the donations that poured in during the concert, the congregation held their first service in their new church home.

"Because of the work that God did through us on their tour, this congregation is in their new church home. So now the interest in Biggie Fest has increased. The pastor of that church came to Biggie Fest last year and now the people there are saying that if North Carolina is a sample of what happens at Biggie Fest, then it's over, they're coming," said Minnis.

He said the tour catapulted Biggie Fest onto the world stage due to comments coming in from around the globe, after concert videos were posted with positive feedback.

"They actually called Grand Bahama and The Bahamas, in particular, the land of music. We want you to know that the Africans are coming to empower Bahamian youth so that we can be immersed in the culture. They are coming to help us understand the origination of the music and genres of the African experience. I think Biggie Fest has gone international," said Minnis.

He also confirmed that the Bahamian singers were invited to host a Biggie Fest conference in India in October.

"We are prayerful and concerned that this brand is going to catch like fire, so I wish somebody's soul would catch a fire," said Minnis.

He encourages parents to send their children to this year's Biggie Fest.

"We don't want our children all over the place during the summer break. We need them in a disciplined, focused environment where they can develop spiritually. We also want to inspire them into their career path by having an entrepreneurship competition to let them know that they are not too young to make money and they are not too young to make it big," he said.

"We want the young people to come with their ideas and we will give the winner a seed to help them. We will also be promoting a drama competition and are inviting all of those drama clubs and youth groups who know how to get your laugh on and to make you happy, to come on out. We want our young people in good friendly competition in drama so that we can also recognize them and feature them, and expose them to the international community," said Minnis.

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