Mayor for St Ann’s Bay Michael Belnavis is looking forward to the economy boost expected to be generated from the slew of events slated to take place this Easter weekend.

“Every holiday something major is happening, which is a great thing for us this side of the world. There is one set of parties this weekend, and we just know our local vendors will be able to benefit from that,” Belnavis told the Jamaica Observer.

High on the calendar of activities is the six-event party series Vacae Weekend, which spans all four days of the holiday stretch.

“We have received word from hotels and other places of stay within the area that accommodation is looking tight. We suspect it is because this event will be bringing in a large following from the Diaspora, leading to a need for more rooms,” Belnavis explained. “Last time we had an event of this scale was in January, with the Buju [Banton] and Beres [Hammond] show, and that brought in millions of US dollars for just one night. So, for something like this, we can certainly expect in the hundreds of millions,” he added.

Responding to traffic concerns, Belnavis said: “At this time, for the weekend, we aren’t expecting any major traffic jams… The good thing about it is that most of the events are in the day and spread out across the whole weekend. So, with that kind of spread, it allows for a better handling of the traffic coming in.”

Dubbed “more than a party”, Vacae Weekend is curated and organised by the entertainment company Twenty14 Limited, which was first launched in 2019 with the goal of highlighting Jamaica’s most prominent features.

CEO Andrew Ellis, for his part, told the Observer, “Vacae Weekend is far more than just a series of parties, it is an outlet for all the things that make Jamaica unique; our music, our food, our scenery and, above all, our ability to have a good time.”

Vacae Weekend events starts off this year with The Lawn, an all-yellow party whose highlight will be a performance from dancehall icon Govana.

Ellis said the Twenty14 team is proud to bring the Mawning Sir deejay to a crowd hungry for a good time and fans can expect even more surprises.

“This year will be our biggest yet, as it gives us yet another chance to learn from everything we’ve done up until this point. I want to use this opportunity to thank all our sponsors for their trusting us and supporting what we do,” added Ellis.