THERE was no question that Jamaicans are in love with Destra Garcia. This was evident as thousands of adoring fans packed the Mas Camp, in St Andrew, last Friday, to see the soca queen in performance.

Her hour-and-a-half set sealed the deal on an exciting six weeks of party at the location.

“We’ve had three ordinary nights, and three very successful nights. Tonight is one of the successful ones,” Michael Ammar Jr, director of Bacchanal Jamaica, told the Jamaica Observer.

Ammar said overall the events went over well for carnival season’s signature event.

“This year, we concentrated on the VIP experience which has worked wonders as it has been full every time,” he said.

Ammar said things are now focused on the next two big events on the calendar, Beach J’Ouvert and the Road March scheduled for April 25 and 27, respectively.

“There’s a lot of new stuff for Beach J’Ouvert as we’re working with sponsors to have things like skyboxes,” Ammar said.

The evening’s headliner, Trinidad soca queen had an interactive: bringing fans onstage, and even climbed the speaker scaffolding to sing to both general and VIP patrons. She belted out hits like Call My Name, Fly, Max It Up and Road Call much to the audience’s delight, who were also treated to a fireworks display.

A huge part of Garcia’s performance success was due to her secret weapon, Stuart Silva, who joined her early in the set. He turned his attention to the throngs of females in the crowd, going the interactive route when he started to sing Mr Killa’s Rolly Polly and JW & Blaze’s Palance, the latter turning into a visual spectacle with multi-coloured Digicel Xylobands.

“Jamaica made me feel welcome,” said Silva, on his first visit to the island.

Both performers managed to keep the energy flowing to the very end bringing the packed house down to a shower of confetti and applause to Destra’s Its Carnival.

“The crowd was great as expected. I love coming to Jamaica,” she said.

Earlier in the evening, DJ Bambino and Kurt Riley built the vibes with their selections.

Telecoms provider Digicel had dancers on stage and in elevated cages while the fire breathers put on a blazing routine. However, it was the Digicel Xylobands that lit up the venue that was a hit with patrons.