Wine Festival expects better second staging

Davina Henry, Staff Reporter

The second staging of the International Wine Festival has been launched.

The event, which is the brainchild of Carlos Daley, is slated to take place on August 11 at the Aqueduct, Rose Hall in Montego Bay.

The launch took place at the Liguanea Club in New Kingston, where guests were given a taste of what was to come at the event.

Carlos Daley, the promoter of the event and head of CSR Promotions, stated that this event will combine two beautiful products - wine and reggae music.

The stellar entertainment package will be one of the highlights of the festival and will feature world-renowned vintage singer Leroy Sibbles, the soulful singer Tessane Chin and rising sensation Protoje. The event will also feature reggae crooner George Nooks.

Chin, who also performed at the first staging of the event, said she was pleased to be back on board for a second year.

"I'm just happy to be back and I'm really excited to be a part of this because last year was an amazing experience and I look forward to it this year," she said.

George Nooks echoed the sentiment, stating that he was looking forward to this year's staging.

"Wine is always one of my favourites to help me relax, so I'll definitely be relaxing while I'm singing. I'm really looking forward to perform on this show," Nooks said.

As with the first staging, CSR Promotions promises that this event will always linger in the minds of the guests and will attract wine purveyors, critics and lovers of wine from all over the world.

Sandra Ledgister, sponsorship executive of Digicel, told the audience that Digicel was enthused to be on board this year.

"We saw the passion and the enthusiasm with the successes of last year when they held this event. When they approached us, Digicel was pleased, we are enthusiastic that this year will be a great success and we love to be a part of successes," Ledgister told The Sunday Gleaner.

According to Daley, the feedback he has been getting about the festival has been overwhelming.

"Last year's staging was very surprising in that it came out very well. For this year, there is more global marketing, and the reason for that is because of the endorsement of the Jamaica Tourist Board and Digicel. "This year will be better and more effective because I'm getting more feedback from the overseas market, so a lot of people will be coming down for the festival," Daley told The Sunday Gleaner.

The event will include the complete Jamaican lifestyle inclusive of food, fashion and the performing arts.