I Love Soca Jamaica Cooler Festival pulled in the faithful by the thousands at Sabina Park in Kingston on Saturday, September 29.

“It was our best staging for 2018. We are thankful that the support was strong, based on the feedback from the start of the party and all the way until the end. The reviews were positive and very encouraging. Everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly,” Andrew Bellamy, director of I Love Soca, told the Jamaica Observer.

Patrons partied to the strong DJ line-up and demanded more way pass the event’s 2:00 am cut-off time. From DJs Richie Ras, Smoke, Franco and Charlotte to Coppershot each brought their own flavour to the music-hungry masses.

DJ Private Ryan and his hype man Tony Cross kept the energy flowing when they hit the stage. Sending the audience into further soca frenzy with a surprise performance from T&T soca artiste Sekon Sta. He had the crowd swaying along to his hits like Aye Yo and The Best.

Bellamy believes it’s small elements like this that continue to make I Love Soca a success.

“We strive to always raise the bar with an aim to set new standards at each staging. We listen to the feedback from our ambassadors, sponsors and patrons, then we hit the drawing board and meticulously execute our event to satisfy desires.”

The next staging of I Love Soca series is set for December.

“Without giving away details, we are planning on exceeding expectations with an epic fete,” Bellamy added.

— Rory Daley