Speaking with THE STAR at the launch of the event at Devonshire, Devon House, St Andrew, last night, promoter Marvin Lawrence said carnival in Jamaica is mostly based in Kingston. However, All-Island Carnival will be visiting various sections of the country.
“We think that carnival now is very Kingston centric. We think that carnival should be celebrated by the whole island and as such we decided to come up with something called the All-Island Carnival. We think that is going to fill a void that has been left by our predecessors (Jamaica Carnival),” he told THE STAR.
“We are very confident that we are going to be exceeding a lot of persons expectations because we expect it to carry on for years. So we are very very happy to have all the sponsors that we have on board believing in the product and we believe it is going to work wonders for the economy in the provision of many jobs and even after the duration of carnival.”
Another promoter, Julius Morgan, explained that the event will be going to 11 parishes including Westmoreland, St James, St Thomas, St Catherine, St Mary and St Elizabeth. For the first staging on January 29 at the Urban Development Corporation field in New Kingston, there will be soca artistes like Lil Rick and Oscar B, who will be accompanied by dancehall artistes like Aidonia, Elephant Man and Tanto Blacks. Later in the series, there will be performances by other soca acts like Destra, Bunji Garlin, Allison Hinds and Shurwayne Winchester.
True Entertainment
Title sponsor LIME was also present to share in the proceedings. Stephen Price, regional special projects manager for the company, said “LIME is extremely excited to be a part of All-Island Carnival. LIME has been seeking to align itself with superior brands out there. We are coming hard and strong and bringing true entertainment to the Jamaican people. We intend to throw the full weight of our brand behind entertainment.”
As sponsors of the event, Price said many parishes will be able to experience carnival in its true form with the event. In addition, he said his company would be able to promote its brand and connect with new and existing customers.
Carlo Redwood, head of marketing for Pepsi, added that the public would be able to win prizes and tickets to the event from Pepsi. He also said that he is confident that the event would be a huge success.
Other sponsors for the event are Trade Wind Citrus and Grace Foods.
After the formalities, the All-Island Carnival girls were introduced to the audience. Shortly after, they were joined by Oscar B, who went on to give the audience a taste of what will be experienced at the event. He did songs like Jump, One More Wine, Butterfly and his own 2011 song Sweet Wine.
The guests also partied to music played by DJ Narity. He played songs like Aidonia’s Jack Hammer, Slim vs Fluffy by Spice and Pamputtae and Beenie Man’s Gimmie Likkle.
See more pictures from the launch here
Source: jamaica-star
Writer: Sadeke Brooks
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