Founded in 1995 by Livingston Krumah Nelson, the son of Lemo, a great traditional drummer, the mission of the Tivoli Drummers was to spread the Drum Culture. The group recruited young members and taught them the art of drum playing, dancing and singing in the traditional style.

It was recognized early in the group formation that the number of persons needed to participate and the level of organization required to maintain the traditional style was quite difficult. Krumah, the Director of the Tivoli Drummers then introduced choreographed drumming. 

That style of drumming is unique to Tivoli drummers and is not seen on television, in the English speaking Caribbean or within the thirty-nine groups that performed in Guadeloupe at the 2001 Gwoka (Drum) Festival. It is this choreographed drumming which makes the Tivoli Drummers stand out and maps out for their niche market.

To be successful the group embarked on several creative and experimental styles of drumming, facilitated by the manufacture of drums within the group and the introduction of other instruments. Today Tivoli Drummers can boast of its success and its impact on the Grenadian society.

The next logical stage in spreading the drum culture further was to host an international drum festival. The idea was fuelled when the Director of the Tivoli Drummers visited Guadeloupe in 2000 and witnessed the festival of the drums referred to as Gwoka.

The 2005 Festival
Following the passage of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, the fifth Annual Grenada Drum Festival was moved from its original venue of Seamoon in May to Moonlight City in La Poterie in July. The 2005 Drum Fest brought some new faces to Grenada, with the Charlotte-Ville Rhythm Band which brought a new style to the drum fest. They were joined by other visiting groups, Drummers of Tomorrow and Culture Shop. The 2006 Grenada Drum Fest is carded for May 5th, 6th and 7th at Moonlight City at La Poterie.

The 2004 Festival
The 2004 Grenada Drum Festival was held over a three day period May 7th, 8th and 9th at the Seamoon Cultural Center in St. Andrew’s. There were seven overseas groups and eleven local groups participating in this year’s event. For the first time the organisers were able to get most of the performing groups in one location at Sam’s Inn in St. Andrew’s creating a total cultural village. Rainbow Inn, a nearby facility was also utilized to host Dancin Africa, the group from Barbados which had a large contingent. Read the 2004 Festival report.

The 2003 Festival
In 2003 the Festival grew even bigger with workshops on Dance Steps and Styles of Drumming and performances from various groups, including Spice Island Youth Quake, Charma-Lion (St.Lucia), Trudy Babtiste (Dub Poetry), La Poterie Tamboo Bamboo, Senator (Poet), Am4 (Martinique), Tumda, Culture Shop Tobago, Grenada School Of Dance, Tivoli Junior Dancers, Pritz-Garland Wahdadli (Antigua), Drummers Of Tomorrow (Tobago) and Karifuna (Dominica).

The 2003 festival was so popular that in 2004 the venue for the Grenada Drum Festival has been moved to the neighbouring Seamoon Cultural Centre in St. Andrew's, which will be able to comfortably accommodate even more patrons who come to experience the unique Drum Culture expressed in the Grenada Drum Festival.

The 2002 Festival
There was major improvement the second year. The site had its own stage, changing facilities, power outlet and telephone, and the sound system and lighting was much improved over the first year.

There were five overseas groups including Culture Shop (Tobago), Priz-Garland, Kelly Village (Trinidad), Vwa Bel Damn (Martinique), Soufriere Action Theatre (St. Lucia) and Naked Roots (ST. Vincent). Local groups included Tivoli Drummers, Birchgrove Drummers, TUMDA, Spice Island Youth-Quake, Grenada School Of Dance, La-Poterie Tamboo Bamboo and Makosi Drummers.

The second year also featured workshops in drumming and dancing techniques and tours to major sites in Grenada. The event was broadcast live on two nights and video taped for three days. The public support was tremendous and overwhelming for Drum Fest 2002.

The 2001 Festival
The Drum Festival Committee was formed by Livingston Krumah Nelson in January 2001, with members from the Tivoli Drummers plus Bernard Alexander (PRO), Percival Francois (Treasurer), Cheryl Joseph (Secretary), Simon Green, Denis James and Kester Lyons.

It was felt that Tivoli as a rural community with a rich history in drumming, should be selected as the site of the festival. The Tivoli hard court was identified as the most suitable site and work was started to upgrade the facility.

Drum Theatre Togetherness out of Canada was the only foreign group to participate at the first Drum Festival in 2001. The local groups included, Grenada School of Dance, La Poterie Tamboo Bamboo, Veni Wrai La Grenade, TUMDA, Mt. Rose Drummers, Tivoli Drummers and Tivoli Junior Dancers and Drummers.

Contributions from Cable and Wireless in the planning stages of the Festival instilled the  confidence that the festival was possible. The Drum Festival Committee is also very grateful to DJ Bobcat who contributed his machines and his men in order to ready the site for the first ever Drum Festival.