International flavour anticipated for ATI

The longest running, world renowned party series in Jamaica and in particular Negril is set to kick it up a notch in 2011 with new added features and variables incorporated in the 11-year-old event series.

In sticking with the theme, "Partying Internationally", the promoters have romped up the 2011 edition by adding new events such as 'Officially Diagnosed' from Montego Bay and Kingston's 'Smudge' that encapsulate not just Jamaica, but North America and the Caribbean.

According to Darren Virtue, one of the brains behind the ATI party series, the global appeal of the event has been added to by the addition of parties such as 'Naked' out of Miami, as well as the Trinidad soca-themed 'Jokers Wild'.

"We definitely plan to party internationally this year. every year we aim to strengthen our brand, and we want to move away from the stigma of ATI being a Kingston-style party series coming to Negril. We want our patrons to enjoy what the world has to offer, and so we have brought together the best promoters from Florida and right here in Jamaica to have the best party experience during the holiday weekend."

The promoters are allowing friends of ATI to give back to the community that has embraced them over the past 10 years with the "Party With A Purpose" raffle charity. The raffle will benefit the White Hall Early Childhood Learning Centre and the Negril Health Centre in the ATI party capital, Negril.

Worthy cause

Donations are made through the sale of ATI raffle tickets. at $500 per ticket, partygoers will have the opportunity to contribute to a worthy cause. Tickets are on sale at ATI season-band outlets.

The ATI series, which is the brainchild of founder Alex Chin, has grown from two parties in 2000 to over eight events between Friday, July 29 and Monday, August 1. The event has continued to grow from strength to strength with over 20,000 patrons venturing to the western side of the island to witness the world renowned party series.

According to Chin, the venture has been an arduous and challenging one. "When we started with just Stages and Wild Sides we wanted to just keep an event so that we could leave Kingston and party in a different environment. Now the brand has grown with the kind assistance of sponsors such as Appleton and the Jamaica Tourist Board and now we have the best of the best parties on our calendar, and we intend to continue our tremendous growth as we evolve and bring new concepts to the table," said Chin.

One of the new concepts of which Chin speaks is the return of the party/stage show event dubbed 'Heatwave', which will feature live performances from Jamaican and internationally acclaimed act Gyptian, I-Octane, as well QQ and many others.

The official Appleton Temptation Isle line-up is as follows: on Friday night Miami's hottest party Naked, on Saturday 'Pretty in Pink' returns in the day under the theme 'Girl Power' with 'Colours', the painted edition, in the night. Sunday will see two ATI veterans Wild Sides in the day and Stages in the night. The closing night will have three new events: Kingston's Smudge in the day as well as Officially Diagnosed from Montego Bay and Appleton's Heatwave in the night.