The Campari Xodus Wet Music Festival lived up to its name as hundreds of revellers soaked up the water, sun, paint, powder, and music at Port Spectrum in downtown Kingston on Monday.

Kicking off at 4:00 am was not a deterrent for the soca lovers, many of whom showed up before dawn to officially kick off the Xodus Carnival week festivities.

There was an array of disc jocks who had the wet partygoers gyrating for hours until the scene came to a close just 20 minutes shy of midday. These included: Travis World, Tony X, Sinistar, Zess, Rico The DJ, Papi Jae, Fatalic, and Tegabrooks.

The event featured a massive foam pit and, in an effort to up the ante since the inaugural staging in October 2025, Xodus Wet monokinis were available for sale from as early as last year to be worn to Monday’s edition.

Scott Dunn, group managing director of Dream Entertainment Limited, was pleased with Easter Monday’s fete and had zero complaints.

“Campari Xodus Wet met all our metrics for success. [These included] crowd size, production, drinks, food, and vibes,” he told the Jamaica Observer following the event.

Thanks to strategic partnerships and planning, revellers were also treated to complimentary food courtesy of Elle & Vire, Foska Oats, Pizza Hut, and KFC.

The climax of the festival was a live performance by Trinidadian soca artiste and songwriter Voice, who did not hold back in churning out popular songs like Cyah Behave, Pandemonium, and Dear Promoter. He also brought out veteran artiste Iwer George who fittingly performed Water.

At the end of it all, the venue was painted like a kaleidoscope. Some enthusiastic patrons even abandoned some articles of clothing that had become too soaked and ruined by paint to salvage by washing.

With a full week of events left to unfold, Dunn said that his band is more than ready to deliver this season.

“Xodus is ready. We’ve planned OlympiX for a year and now it’s to time to execute. [There are] five more big events, costume distribution, and the biggest Road March Carnival in Jamaica has ever seen. Everyone needs the ‘Xodus Xperience’. If you even make it to one fete this week, you’ll feel like Xodus Family,” he said.

— Kediesha Perry

Trinidadian soca artiste Voice (left) is joined on stage by Xodus Carnival CEO Pierre Goubalt during his set. (Photo: Nxus Collective)

From left: Trinidadian DJ Tony X, Trinidadian soca artiste Iwer George, and managing director of Dream Entertainment Ltd Scott Dunn. (Photo: Live Feed Jamaica)

MC Zess (Photo credit: Live Feed Jamaica)

Trinidadian soca artiste Voice (Photo: Live Feed Jamaica)