All aboard the world’s largest floating dance music competition, Groove Cruise.
Whet Journey’s flagship fest is about to return to the seas for its thirty fifth sail out of Miami to a personal Haitian island. It will kick off on January nineteenth on the newly renovated Celeb Summit cruise ship earlier than docking on the twenty third.
This once-in-a-lifetime competition expertise boasts 9 levels and can function 96 hours of nonstop techno and home music from over 50 artists. Groove Cruise can also be beloved for fostering an ecosystem of artistic self-expression and inclusion for its friends, who will dance underneath the Caribbean solar to performances from Nora En Pure, Claptone, BIJOU, Giolì & Assia, Matroda, William Black.
EDM.com caught up with Groove Cruise’s founder, Jason Beukema, to talk about its unforgettable competition expertise, Whet Basis’s scheduled charitable initiatives and extra. For extra data and tickets, navigate right here.
EDM.com: How did the Groove Cruise workforce resolve on Labadee, Haiti because the vacation spot? What’s going to the port cease entail for the attendees or “captains” of the ship?
Jason Beukema: Labadee is an absolute dream vacation spot. I’ve been on 148 cruises and to 74 nations and at all times discover myself wanting to return to Labadee. It’s a beautiful location that has every little thing you would ask for in a vacation spot: pristine seashores, crystal-clear blue waters, and even forested mountains.
Facilities clever, it has the world’s longest zipline over water, an epic rollercoaster that goes down the island’s lovely mountainside, a 300-foot water slide, non-public cabanas, boat and island excursions, jet skis—I might go on and on! It’s paradise on Earth. Add that to our wonderful vacation spot occasion with stay performances from a few of the world’s greatest DJs and it’s simply one thing you must expertise your self.
Groove Cruise group of buddies partying on the ship.
Lauren Morell
EDM.com: There are a number of top-tier ladies booked for the 2023 competition, together with Nora En Pure. What goes into the lineup curation for every cruise? What’s your opinion on guaranteeing the illustration of inclusive bookings, particularly throughout the digital music scene?
Jason Beukema: We work with quite a lot of completely different labels and types and have a reserving workforce who’re consistently looking out for brand spanking new and thrilling expertise to deliver on Groove Cruise. Every lineup is sort of a puzzle, becoming the completely different sonic items collectively to create probably the most attention-grabbing and fascinating expertise attainable.
Inclusive reserving is so necessary to us. One of many essential pillars of Groove Cruise is being a enjoyable, protected and inclusive house for everybody to be themselves and that begins with the names on the lineup. Not solely is it necessary to symbolize completely different voices and provides them a platform to be heard, however it really helps create a greater musical expertise for our captains as properly. Nobody needs to take heed to the identical music from the identical folks for 4 or 5 days. We’re actually proud to be an inclusive house each behind and in entrance of the DJ decks.
EDM.com: The Celeb Summit underwent a $500 million renovation. What can attendees anticipate by way of facilities and choices on the ship?
Jason Beukema: Out of all of the cruise ships we’ve chartered through the years, the Celeb Summit is perhaps my favourite. And this would be the first Groove Cruise on it for the reason that renovations, so I’m pumped!
They overhauled the entire ship, renovating each a part of it from the staterooms and suites to the eating places and bars, on line casino, spa, and sundecks. The spa is completely tripped out now, it’s a tremendous place to start out your day and get better from the evening earlier than. And the meals on the Summit is on one other degree out of your common cruise ship. I imply, Michelin-starred cooks put the menus collectively. You actually can’t beat that! I can’t wait to get the GCFam again on board to expertise the revolutionized ship.
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John Summit and Dombresky performing a DJ set on Groove Cruise.
Marcus Laurore
EDM.com: Groove Cruise additionally supplies a plethora of artist-hosted programming and actions, one thing quite a lot of large-scale occasions don’t do. Why did GC resolve to incorporate these?
Jason Beukema: We’re at all times searching for one thing distinctive to supply our captains as a result of the purpose of Groove Cruise has at all times been to create one thing actually particular and out of the odd. The wonderful thing about placing a competition on a cruise is that the artists are on the ship with everybody else, in order an attendee you’ll stumble upon them everywhere and be capable of work together with them.
After a couple of years we realized that quite a lot of the artists enjoying Groove Cruise additionally actually loved interacting with followers as a lot because the followers did, making it a match made in heaven to place these artist-hosted actions collectively. And ever since we began doing them formally they’ve constantly been one of many favourite elements of Groove Cruise for each artists and followers.
EDM.com: The competition will rejoice its twentieth anniversary in 2024. How have you ever seen Groove Cruise’s twenty years’ price of occasions increase and alter through the years? Did you ever think about it will develop into the world’s largest floating dance music competition? What do you hope so as to add and increase within the coming years?
Jason Beukema: I began Groove Cruise in 2004 with 125 buddies happening an everyday cruise trip collectively. I drove a makeshift DJ sales space and all of the gear right down to Miami from Michigan as a result of I couldn’t afford to lease them. I put a marketing strategy collectively to develop the occasion and constitution my very own ship in 5 years. Seven years later I lastly did it. Quick ahead to as we speak and over 60,000 folks have attended our floating occasions and we’ve simply introduced our first 4,000 particular person capability crusing on one of many latest, most amenity packed ships on the planet, the Norwegian Encore.
After all, I at all times hoped Groove Cruise would take off prefer it has, however seeing it really occur has been probably the most wonderful expertise and has saved me working exhausting to innovate and supply our captains probably the most immersive and distinctive musical adventures attainable.
Whet Basis making a distinction in Cabo San Lucas.
Jack Harrigan
EDM.com: Groove Cruise additionally has been partnering with charities and the 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Whet Basis, since its inception in 2004. What are the competition’s scheduled outreach initiatives whereas in Haiti?
Jason Beukema: We’re teaming up with a tremendous nonprofit referred to as Second Mile Haiti for this upcoming Groove Cruise. They’ve constructed a live-in malnourishment restoration heart and created a household planning program to cut back maternal and toddler mortality.
Malnutrition impacts a staggering 10% of Haitian youngsters. Haiti’s unemployment fee is round 80%, and 76% of its inhabitants resides on lower than $2 a day, which causes households to have to surrender their youngsters to ensure that them to obtain correct care. So we’re working with Second Mile Haiti to deliver 50 youngsters and 10 moms from their group to Labadee, the place Groove Cruise volunteers will host actions and supply donated items (meals, college provides, toiletries, books, toys, and so forth.) for the children and moms.
Whet Basis is an integral a part of Whet Journey and has been since I began the corporate. Giving again to the communities we go to is so necessary. Visiting a overseas vacation spot isn’t nearly seeing a brand new location and ticking it off your bucket record, it’s about studying from new locations and increasing your understanding of the world, and you may actually solely do this by interacting with locals and leaving your mark by means of serving to folks in want nevertheless you may. I’m comfortable to say the GCFam have actually taken to this facet of Groove Cruise and the volunteer excursions are getting greater and greater on each cruise we placed on as a result of an increasing number of folks need to get entangled.
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