Days before Jamaica celebrated her 57th year of Independence, fans of the hot-ticket Summer Playground Fantasy (SPF) Weekend 2019 relished the gaiety of the season at Pearly Beach West in the garden parish. SPF::Soirée gave SO reason to highlight the weekend that was, which ended Sunday, August 4.

The “4 parties, 1 event, 1 weekend”-endorsed beach party series created a favourable summer rave for scores of patrons with this year’s staging being a revamp of sorts, and therefore a reason for promoters to go all-out. Patrons with weekend bands started their SPF experience with iRise — a cultural reggae concert at Kaya Herb House, Drax Hall, hosted by Solid Agency and featuring a slew of reggae acts including Eva Flow, Jesse Royal, No-Maddz and international act Afro B, singer of the addictive Drogba (Joanna) hit.

On day two, the popular bonfire beach party SPF::Forever Beach was held. Backed by the Kingston Live Entertainment (KLE) Group, at Pearly Beach East, deejays DuttyDex, Lank, Heavy D and the Hyperactive Sound Station group levelled the musical playing field, play by play.

Day three allowed for a sip and chill with a day pass to the Chukka White River Valley for an adventure tour and Lucozade-sponsored river bash. Later that day saw the return of the storied sound system showcase Fully Loaded — with Jamaica’s “biggest and baddest deejays, selectors, sound systems and hosts” on show at Grizzly’s Plantation Cove.

Day four consisted of a “sun, beach, fun and food” affair. Sun and beach are expected off the beaten path at the secluded Pearly Beach West, but the “fun” involved live entertainment from Love & Hip Hop: Miami castmate and musical artiste Amara La Negra, and spell-binding mixes from deejays Nicco, Frano, and the Chromatic Live crew. The “food” portion meanwhile incorporated gourmet eats from culinary artists Garfield Seivwright Jr and Petra Edwards, among others.

SPF::Soirée sponsors WATA, Coca Cola, CranWATA, Ironade, Red Stripe, Nations Choice, and Brew’d Awakenings decked the beach with branded incentives that added to the Soirée experience — the CranWATA Sparkling swing and Coca-Cola Cokesicles, to name a few.

SPF endorses a strict swim dress code, but patrons proved their versions of beachwear — be they variations of neon-hued swim sets or shake-and-go resort dresses — could be just as sumptuous, or better. And, with make-up touch-ups available from veteran make-up artist Paul March and his team, everyone experienced personal moments of glam. Even the gents’ style sensibilities were reason to pause. SO people-watched as the sun set on Pearly Beach West.