Bacchanal Jamaica’s pre-season “Soc’n Wet Fete”, held at Morgan’s Harbour, Port Royal recently, was hugely successful in priming revelers for the 2018 carnival season which begins with the first Bacchanal Friday on February 16. As one excited patron put it “Water, sun, sand, liquor and soca music – a great combo!”

Bacchanal director Nicholas Franklin was happy with the response of the fans, “This is a complete departure from our regular offering and something of an experiment as we had a new, somewhat distant venue and it was well before the regular Jamaican carnival season, so we were not sure whether the fans would come out. But, we felt it important to insert some variety into our offering. It was a big success and something we will certainly be doing again.”


The location was definitely a plus for most patrons, several of whom expressed the sentiment summed up in the following comments - “I love the nice drive out of the city”, “It’s different from the Mas Camp feel and the sea and boats as the backdrop is awesome and I like dancing in the sand”, “I like that it’s on a Saturday .. . I like the timing and driving out on the shuttle bus from Kingston”, “A cool concept, I like it”.

The musical fare consisted of a good mix of soca and dancehall as dished out by DJs Tyler, King Taj, and DJ Kevin of Coppershot. DJ Tyler, who is fairly new to the business, did an excellent job in warming up the crowd with his set which was a mix of soca and dancehall. King Taj upped the tempo. He fed off the energy of the growing crowd and loved the fact that the close setting allowed him to interact closely with the fans. DJ Kevin of the Coppershot crew took it home as the energized revelers danced the evening away and was happy to see the many young faces in the crowd.


“The Wet Fete is a concept we intend to keep. We are already thinking of ways to make it even bigger and better the next time around. This is only one of the new ideas we have to up the ante for 2018. Look out for exciting new additions to the Bacchanal Jamaica programme”, shared Michael Ammar, Bacchanal director.