STEPHANIE Elliott — organiser of the inaugural South Coast Rum, Food and Music Festival — said the late arrival of lighting and stage impacted her event negatively, last Saturday.

The festival was held at the Coastline Beach, Parotee in Black River, St Elizabeth.

“We were unable to put on a stage show. The lighting and stage people were late and that had a serious ripple effect on the show,” Elliott told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

Female deejay Macka Diamond was slated to be the event’s headliner.

“She came to the event. But it made no sense to put her on by the time the stage was set up, as most persons had already left,” she said.

Tripple A, recently crowned Magnum Queen of the Dancehall, as well as several up-and-coming South Coast acts were also scheduled to perform.

Despite the lack of sound and music, Elliott said the food and drinks were available to patrons.

“People from overseas came to the event… Patrons were there, roughly 300 passed through. Some vendors reported success,” she said.

Conceptualised by Elliott, the South Coast Rum Food and Music Festival was billed as a family-friendly event. Its main aim is to showcase the best of the bread basket parish of St Elizabeth.

Elliott said, at the moment, she is uncertain whether she will be hosting the event next year.

“I’m not sure if I am going to hold it summer, we’ll just have to wait and see,” she added.