Island Mas goes for The Elements

Hasani Walters, Gleaner Writer

The Island Mas series events, held annually in Jamaica throughout the Carnival season, has been going strong for five years with no sign of losing steam.

This year's theme is 'The Elements'. One of Island Mas' directors, Floyd Green, said "this year being our fifth anniversary, the directors wanted a theme that would reflect our trials and triumphs, experiences and energies, and capture our five-year journey. So we started to think about the foundations of our bonds and our existence and thought what would better represent us than the elements of life itself - water, wind, fire, earth and of course our main element that holds them together, soca?

"We think patrons will embrace the themes. In what has become a saturated party market, partygoers are constantly searching for a different experience and that is what we are able to bring about through our theme. We have seen how the water party has been embraced throughout the years and we believe that the response to our other events will be just as good," he said.

Special use of decor, lighting

The Island Mas team has been working assiduously to ensure that 'The Elements' will be brought out effectively. They hope to transform ordinary venues with familiar deejays into spaces where patrons can embrace their inner fire, feel the wind, celebrate earth and revel in water, all brought together with sweet soca music. Through effective use of decor, lighting and special surprises they hope the parties will become memories that patrons will wish to share with their children for years to come.

The theme of fire, which represents energy, is being depicted through the Island Mas Saturdays series at Cuddyz, New Kingston, which began last week. Each week, the decor, and lighting will be used to bring the theme to life, while patrons are treated to high-energy, club-type soca music. In some weeks, special surprises such as fire eaters and fire dancers will greet partygoers on arrival as they ask them to embrace their inner fire.

Island Mas' directors consider wind one of the strongest elements, because it can both rescue the lost sailor and flatten the strongest building. As such, they found it appropriate to use wind to celebrate women through the event Hardwine: Girl Fever. Women will be encouraged to wear pink that night as they are - hopefully - blown away with performances from Konshens and Darrio, among others.

Celebrating earth will be done by producing a Jamaican J'ouvert party where revellers bask in mud instead of paint. This may be new to Jamaica, but is standard around the Caribbean. Patrons will revel in a specially created chocolate styled mud that will elevate their party experience to the heights of ecstasy.

Now, one of Carnival's most sought after events, the water party will celebrate obviously, water. Last year, the drought caused some inconvenience, but the organisers are looking to improve the event, dubbing this year's edition 'The Return of Water - Bigger, Better, Wetter'.

Each year, Island Mas has a carnival band which scorches the UWI Ring Road. This year, their band is named 'Illegal'.

The organisers wanted to take the typical energy that one gets from a soca event and mix it with the atmosphere created in a club and, as such, they have chosen Cuddyz as the location for the Island Mas Saturday's series and Hardwine. The water party returns to the venue at which it was first introduced on the party scene last year, the Sagicor Car Park, which allows them the freedom to fully execute the popular party.