Promoter believes in 'Karma'

Garfene Grandison, Gleaner Writer

Steadfast in his desire to give party-goers other choices on a given night, Darren Virtue has continued to stage a number of parties that have offered patrons the ultimate party experience.

It has been nine and a half years since Euphoria, his first bottle party back in 2001.

Since then, the promoter has racked up a name for himself when it comes to staging successful parties. Gaining the respect of other big-wig promoters, Virtue was invited on board the Appleton Temptation Isle train to Negril by Absolute Entertainment to stage Pretty in Pink.

Apart from Pretty in Pink, Virtue is known for other parties such as, Wet Sundaze, Blitz Tuesdays, Altitude and the list goes on but, he is quite different from other promoters. Throwing parties was almost natural to him, because he had been friends with many of the persons influential in the industry, long before he kept his first one.

"I played football in the National Premier League, was well known and met a lot of people over the years before going into event planning," he said.

Up next on his calendar of events is Karma, this Sunday on the exotic Lawns of Hope Gardens from 2 p.m. -10 p.m. where patrons can expect musical vibes and people.

"We have the likes of DJ Nicco from Fame FM, ZJ Liquid from Zipfm and new sensation Imperial Disco," said Virtue.

The promoter said Karma had always been different from other parties because "it's one of the biggest day events during the prime of summer and right before the Negril weekend. It has a mix ... local celebrities (models, footballers,entertainment icons...) and patrons on holidays both locally and visiting from abroad."

Party promotion isn't all Virtue plans to do with the rest of his life though.

The Campion College alum is hoping that years from now, he will be able to get more involved in Ballaz International, the youth programme his brother, Andre Virtue, runs, as well as other charitable undertakings for the less fortunate.