THE second of SPF’s Emancipation Weekend events, SPF Fiction: Beach at Sunset Beach, White River, Ocho Rios was set ablaze on Saturday by an unexpected set of performers during the set by German Electronic Dance Music (EDM) specialist DJ York.

After a rousing fist-pumping mix of songs from DJ York, the heat was turned up literally. During his performance, he was joined on stage by a fire dancer enthralling the crowd. Then things got even more interesting when the audience was treated to the unique experience of Aerial Silk dancing by two women hanging from the rafters, wrapped in the namesake fabric. All watched in fascination, as they appeared to defy gravity twirling and gyrating to the music.

“It was OK. I know that EDM is just catching on in the Caribbean so the crowds response was totally what I’d expect,” DJ York said, after putting down a hardcore EDM set.

Despite this being his first trip ever to Jamaica EDM DJ/Producer DJ York, aka Torsten Stenzel, is well steeped in the culture having grown up in his native country listening to Bob Marley. With 25 years of producing EDM hits under his belt, he’s not surprised by the rise in the popularity of the music genre.

“EDM takes all musical genres and mashes them up into a club friendly form that people seem to like,” he said.

This won’t be the last Jamaica hears of DJ York as his record label Planet Love Records will soon release an EDM-flavoured track called Kings featuring Jah Cure and J Nation.

The rest of the musical line-up kept the beach party flowing to its midnight cut-off time. DJ Cruise dropped in another well-received set. DJ Lank took a more dancehall approach to things, pairing with mic-man Chris Dymond to keep the crowd hyped to the very end with a raft of past reggae favourites and modern dancehall hits.

When not dancing, patrons had the run of the beach with multiple bars, relaxing poolside seating, and a fabulous spread of catered food.

On Friday, the three-day party series kicked off with the SPF: Cat Cruise at The Jewel Dunn’s River Beach Resort and BNM: Eye Candy, Cary Island.

SPF: Cat Cruise had 100 lucky patrons on a fun, four-hour cruise on a Catamaran the Ocho Rios coastline. All were encouraged to dip into the clear blue Caribbean Sea, but for those who didn’t, there was more than enough distractions with food, drink and music supplied by DJ Vice with DJ Silent Addy.

Later that evening, the festivities began at full speed on land as Cary Island was converted into a virtual living room to support the musical stylings of headline DJ Kyle DeSouza.

“The party was very good. A lot of vibes. I really wasn’t expecting so many people,’ DeSouza told the Jamaica Observer.

The Miami-based DJ is no stranger to the Jamaican scene and has built his year-old career on playing the best Electronic Dance Music (EDM) around in Florida.

“I play different in Jamaica because I know what the crowd here likes,” he said.

DeSouza’s set reflected that concept, layering his EDM playlist with reggae mash-ups and the more popular rap/hip-hop songs. He will also perform at the SPF finale today,

SOIREE: SPF-03 at Bay Beach.

Helping out him was DJ Cruise and DJ 3D, who made sure not to cross over into DeSouza’s musical territory to provide variety for the night. DJ Cruise provided a range of past and current popular hits, while DJ 3D gave a helping hand of dancehall and soca. The crowd was treated to the extra efforts of Richie D.

When not dancing up a storm, patrons could relax on the plush couches available, indulge in the readily available food, drink, and pastries, or rush for ‘selfies’ with the various celebrities who passed through the party. There was also a mild middle-eastern theme with a Hookah bar for all to try.