Rum Fest seeks new home
MORE than 12,000 patrons attended the two-day Jamaica Rum Festival at Hope Gardens in St Andrew on the weekend.
“It’s a good look for the festival. It’s a good look for the initiative itself. We want to thank the Jamaica Tourist Board and the Tourism Enhancement Fund for partnering with us. We’re looking for bigger and better next year, identifying new venues because we’ve already outgrown Hope Gardens, which is crazy for year two of our event,” Valon Thorpe, director of Jamaica Rum Festival, told the Jamaica Observer.
Last year, organisers planned for a total of 3,000 patrons over two days. However, there were 7,000 at the final count.
“We knew we had to improve and open up the venue, but try to keep everything together. So we had a set amount that we were expecting. We expected 10,000 people over the two days,” Thorpe explained.
He said vendor and exhibitor numbers doubled to 50; the food court increased by 40 per cent, and the amount of bars went up by seven. The edutainment factor enlarged as well.
Freddie McGregor and Capleton raised the energy level on day two.
“I just try to enjoy myself to the max because oftentimes on shows like these, you don’t get a chance to do your full set. So, it kind of restricts you. But tonight we were able to do a number of songs I wanted to do. The people enjoyed themselves, so I just tagged along with it,” McGregor told the Jamaica Observer.
The veteran singer needed no introduction as patrons of all ages sang along the second the band began to play. With a decades-deep catalogue, McGregor could have done the entire show by himself without complaint from the large audience.
His mellow vibe was complemented by Cocoa Tea who followed, but Capleton came closest to matching McGregor’s performance.
He blazed onto the stage with pyrotechnics and for the first 10 minutes did not need to complete a song, because as soon as Capleton opened his mouth to sing the opening lines, patrons chimed in, finishing each song for him.
Indie Allen and Ky-Mani Marley added to the evening’s conscious theme.
