CLOSE to midnight on Friday, the traffic leading up to Mas Camp crawled at snail’s pace as motorists tried to secure a spot inside the packed Stadium North parking lot in St Andrew for the Smirnoff-sponsored Bacchanal Fridays opening night.

Soca music from blared loudly from speaker boxes sending some of the patrons inside the parking lot in a gyrating session.

It was, however, hard to remain stationary with DJ Richie Ras, DJ Sanjay and DJ Smoke at the turntables selecting some of soca’s finest hits from the likes of Busy Signal, Destra Garcia, Kes the band and Machel Montano.

Those in attendance got the opportunity to familiarise themselves with new soca hits like Machel Montano and Major Lazer’s Sound Bang and Bunji Garlin’s Truck On The Road.

By 1:30 am, the venue had almost reached its capacity and the ‘party animals’, some semi-intoxicated, gyrated with each other, some not caring whether they were complete strangers. The Smirnoff and Appleton bar attendants were kept busy throughout the night as alchololic beverages were mainly used as thirst quenchers. Pure Country also provided refreshing fruit juice mixes for those patrons that preferred to remain sober.

As promised, there were several changes made to Mas Camp as the VIP area was upgraded and an a dancefloor implemented in the general area. Patrons also had the opportunity to view the 2014 Bacchanal Jamaica costumes.

Bacchanal Fridays continues next week.

— Simone Morgan