Billboard.biz is reporting that Holland's world famous North Sea Jazz Festival is  heading south - expanding to Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles. Marc Maes, reporting from a press conference in Rotterdam for Billboard, noted that the festival director Jan Willem Luyken of promoter Live Nation Entertainment Netherlands announced the first edition of the Curaçao North Sea Jazz festival, which will take place in Willemstad. St. Lucia, EUTN recently reported, also operates a highly successful Jazz event in the islands. 

This year's festival, which has been an annual event in The Netherlands since 1975, runs from July 9 to July 11 and features a line-up of some 150 artists, ranging from Stevie Wonder, Ornette Coleman, Norah Jones, Herbie Hancock, Gilberto Gil, Sonny Rollins and Joe Bonamassa.

"Having Stevie Wonder on the bill is really a dream come true - we couldn't have wished for a better finale for our fifth anniversary in Rotterdam," said Luyken to the press gaggle. 

The southern sister, the first Curaçao North Sea Jazz festival, will be held on the island's Piscadero Bay World Trade Center convention facility, which can house some 2000 fans. Artists expected to attend include the likes of  George Benson, Natalie Cole, John Legend, Roy Hargrove, Lionel Richie and salsa prince Luis Enrique, among others.

"It's truly a great honor for us to be able to organize a Caribic edition of the festival in Curaçao," said Luyken. "Together with the Fundashon Bon Intenshon foundation and travel agency Cadushi Tours, it's our goal to offer a great festival with international appeal just like the parent festival in Rotterdam, but with a more Caribic touch."