With their first all-inclusive New Year’s Eve party under their belt, Marquee Entertainment — conceptuliser of Minuit — has rebranded and secured a new main sponsor.

This New Year’s Eve, Appleton Estate Midnight at Bal Harbour will be held at the Kingston Waterfront on December 31.

“Myself and my team decided to rename it Midnight at Bal Harbour, and what we wanted to do was bring that whole fashion look and feel to the event. As you all know, Bal Harbour is a high-fashion location, so we’re just renaming the Kingston Waterfront after another fashionable waterfront,” Jermaine Brown, director of Marquee Entertainment, told the Jamaica Observer at the event launch on Thursday.

Brown and his team already have over two decades of party and event planning under their belt, and undertook Minuit in partnership with the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the Kingston & St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC).

“What we’re doing right now is bringing downtown alive. They asked us last year to do it and this year we’re only going to lift it up further,” Brown explained.

The partnership created what is the signature of last year’s event — direct line of sight of the downtown Kingston New Year’s Eve fireworks display. This went over well with patrons who were looking for a safe haven to ring in the new year and see the display. Midnight at Bal Harbour will do no less, once again providing both a prime viewing spot and safe refuge to party downtown.

“Through our partnership with the UDC and KSAMC, they’ve granted us the venue and the ability to bring patrons from uptown and downtown, because it’s unfair for the city to put on such a fireworks show, literally a fifteen minute display, and half of the people in Kingston don’t see it,” he said.

The party will use the two adjoining secure parking lots of the Bank of Jamaica and Scotiabank, allowing partygoers to enter straight into the venue. From there, they’ll experience the updates that Midnight at Ball Harbour will see this time around.

On top of its all-inclusive premium drink and food, the menu has been expanded by the inclusion of three of the island’s top chefs, each with their own specialty.

“Instead of a food court, we’re going to have a show court, where we are going to have the different chefs showing the meals that are being prepared for the buffet line. We have Evrol Ebanks of Rainforest Seafoods, Chef Shea from sponsor Spanish Grain, and Chef Murray, there’s isn’t and event with Murray’s curry,” he added.

For the musical entertainment, Jazzy T returns from the last staging, but joins ZJ Liquid. The two will share the spotlight with a younger generation of DJs — Cruise and Franco.

“We have an all-star lineup: Jazzy T, ZJ Liquid, and we added a young fusion to it with Cruise and Franco.”