The Jamaica Star :: Entertainment :: The powers behind the parties

Alessandro Boyd, Star Reporter

Left: 'A', 'P' and 'W' were some of the very sexy ladies who turned out at a Twisted Spiritz Party. Right: A female patron enjoying herself to the fullest at a Twisted Spiritz Party, held at The Pantry, Dumfries Road, New Kingston. - Winston Sill photos

The party industry seems to be taking the scene by storm, as new parties or groups of promoters rise everyday to claim a piece of the pie.

The summer is already here and yet they're a number of new parties coming up, adding to the list of already established ones, such as Twisted Spiritz, Rhythm and Booze and Heineken Yesterday.

Each weekend is filled with so many decisions as to where to go and party. But with so much competition already out there, and so much more coming up, why enter the industry or even continue? Is it for the money, simply for the love of it or for some other unknown reason?

Omar Clarke from SURE Entertainment, a fairly new group on the scene shared his views.

"I started off because I realised we as people from our age group, like partying, hence I had to share my vision of how partying and having a good time should be. I have crazy ideas and themes, that's what promoters fail to realise, it's not limited to one thing," Clarke said.

Reputation

"One of my aims is to have a party that's going to be successful regardless of the date, but because of the reputation already built. Anyone can keep a party but it's the little things that make it successful, just go hard and give the patrons what they want, it shouldn't be about competition - only compete with yourself," Clarke said as he had a party by the name of RE:FILL this month.

With a perception like that why not enter the party scene? Well, there are several drawbacks, however, as it is a business and although it can be financially profitable there can also be great losses.

Rhythm and Booze, an already established party, has even gone to the point where they have a space on the ATI (Appleton Temptation Island) line-up with Rhythm and Booze: Fantasy Island. The party started in February 2004 and it has been staged 10 times since, with the most recent one in March of this year, having an attendance of over three thousand patrons.

With a turnout like that why not be considered a success.

Well, Oneil Williams a member of Mainsource Media, the group responsible for Rhythm and Booze was contacted and he shared his views.

Expectations

His party has been known for a certain level of quality, people have expectations and this is always taken into consideration. He says, "It's not about competing against other parties, but it's more like competing against yourself and making it better and better for the patrons," Williams said.

One of the challenges they experience is simply that of growth and making sure that each addition to the series is an improvement.

There is also a street team, which consists of 30 members, which they use to promote their events, they are also available for rental through Mainsource. Mainsource also hosts other events like Rum and Roses, Kingston Sexy which will be held later this month and Litres coming later this year. That's how the people from Mainsource plan to keep their series of events up and running for many years to come.