UWI Mona’s SOHO 2019 was the perfect Caribbean party. It had a little bit of everything we love about our culture – from the colourful fashion, the scrumptious food, the pulsating Dancehall and Soca music, and yes, the daredevil dance moves. Although it was to be a brunch party, most patrons remained true to their Caribbean sense of time, arriving closer to 3PM – just an hour before the event was scheduled to end. They wasted no time in getting down to feting. The venue, Soho Gardens, which is just walking distance from UWI Students’ Union came alive on Saturday for the highly anticipated event. Being a brunch party, it was expected that by midday persons would have been out in their numbers raving in the daylight. Unfortunately, that was not so, the motto for the day was clearly fashionably late. Nevertheless, the breakfast menu was ready and waiting to be devoured – from ackee and sauteed shrimp, fried fish and chicken to ripe plantains, salt fish fritters, and vegetable wraps. All this and more, alongside the pasta station. Food never stopped anyone from partying, and this was confirmed at SOHO. The delectable menu instead gave them the energy they needed to dance right through to 6:30 pm when the DJ echoed “party done!”  With this being SOHO’s third staging, it was unanimously proclaimed a success by the party goers. The decor was the first thing that caught everyone’s attention, and it had patrons waiting in small groups to get their picture taken at the SOHO ‘board’. (But seriously, if you were at SOHO and didn’t take a picture at the board, were you actually there? I don’t think so!) In the earlier segment, the crowd had just warmed up and everyone lingered to the back, but when DJ Nicco took the reins, he brought the life of the party. Giving the ravers a dance off and giving the soca lovers a taste of carnival. 

TeenAGE caught up with the UWI Mona Guild Cultural and Entertainment Affairs Chairperson (CEAC) Chelsea Thomas-Benoit, to get her insight on a well-planned and executed event. When asked what was the planning for SOHO like, she relayed that “In general it was good, though my team had encountered some challenges (naturally of course). However we pulled through and worked even harder to make the day a success.” She further expressed that their target was to have 300 to 500 patrons, which she confidently feels had been met. When asked if there’s anything she would have done differently, she noted only to add more colors, but for her, I think the ladies did just that with their outfits. SOHO sponsors included: Monster, Rum Bar, Coca Cola, Ronzoni, Cran Wata, among many others. And let’s not forget that SOHO had Doc Ravers brunchin’ with the crew. 6:30 in the night, SOHO crowd going home… yuh like that! 

–Akeelia Richards