Dream, ATI enjoy successful weekend - Promoters look forward to expansion

Krista Henry , Staff Reporter

The Negril weekend is over and the promoters for Smirnoff Dream Weekend and ATI (Appleton Temptation Isle) are all smiles.

With four days of partying and countless events planned, Negril was full of activity over the recently concluded Emancipation weekend. Dream and ATI were overall successful.

When The Sunday Gleaner spoke to Dream team member Kamal Bankay, he was pleased with what the group had achieved in its second year.

"We did something special this year where each event had its own significant moment, courtesy of Smirnoff, which they call their 'be there' moment. So, at Twisted Spiritz there was the 'glow moment' where we issued glow sticks and the lights were turned down so you could see that," he said.

He was right. Daydreams had fireworks, Yush had Aidonia as a surprise guest artiste along with Chi Ching Ching, Wet N Wild had the mermaids and the hundreds of beach balls which were dropped and X.clusive had performances from aerial artists.

Better experience

"Overall, the experience was much more structured and better overall this year. Events started and ended at a particular time so people could go and ready for the next event so all the events had their own time to shine. There was also proper parking so the traffic situation was much better," said Bankay.

ATI celebrated a milestone in Negril this year as the signature event marked its 10th anniversary. According to Director Yhan Hendricks, it was a memorable anniversary.

He told The Sunday Gleaner, "I can say there was definitely an improvement in this year's production; we stepped up the game. There were definitely better venues, events, it was overall a better weekend and 10 years well spent."

More established events like Stages, which has been a part of the weekend since its inception, and the newest addition Impy Skimpy, all went well. "Across the board, Impy Skimpy definitely delivered in terms of patronage, Pretty in Pink got its usual crowd and vibe, Colours exceeded last year's output of patrons. Wildsides was better able to produce the event, having moved to a new venue. On Monday, Tempted Glow also stood out as a crowd-pleaser and Stages along with Dulchie delivered probably the best produced ATI weekend ever," said Hendricks.

High attendance

Patronage for both weekends seemed to be at an all-time high. According to Hendricks, ATI attendance was better this year than last year with an average of 5,000 persons turning out for each event.

There was also an increase in tourists from the United States and Caribbean.

Dream Weekend season bands were sold out days before the start of the weekend. According to Bankay, the limited season bands which were being sold at Margaritaville on Friday were sold out within an hour.

"Patronage this year was definitely more than last year. Each event grew in size, every single event was bigger in terms of crowd support. We definitely saw a lot more overseas patrons, we sold online armbands and the sales went very well. They were all finished," said Bankay.

According to him, the dream team is hoping to expose the event to the international media and to market it as a tourism tool.

The group, Bankay said, is also hoping to one day expand the number of parties held on the band and the number of days the event encompasses.

For Hendricks, ATI will be surpassing all expectations.

"After coming out of this milestone, I see ATI continuing a new chapter, charting a new route and becoming a premiere leading event on the global calendar," he said.