Wide awake in a sweet Dream

Armbands, security searches at the gate, shuttle service from parking lot to venue. This must be one of the island's major music concerts complete with a star-studded line-up of entertainers ... right?

Wrong! It was simply the mother of all event launches. The young, vibrant team of men and women behind the Smirnoff Dream Weekend, set for July 29-August 1, held its unforgettable launch at the historic Hope Botanical Gardens on Wednesday night, and if you were not there, you missed a spectacular party.

For starters, the dominant red and white of main sponsor was visible from all angles. Solomon Sharp and the crew from Main Event took it up several notches with the large screens that churned out messages, adverts and even a reel-by-reel video presentation of how the set-up was executed. Very good, boys! The entire perimeter of the party area was punctuated by sponsors' banners, buntings and signs and guests mingled, spied Smirnoff served by Bar Code, nibbled on titbits by Marlene Foster while their fingers did the walking on their BlackBerries.

Formalities were smoothly guided by Kamal Bankay who introduced Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Olivia Grange, Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett, his Opposition counterpart Wykeham McNeill, the line-up of sponsors and team behind the weekend's seven parties.

From all indications, Smirnoff Dream Weekend 2011 will be a not-to-be-missed affair. Other sponsors are: LIME, National Commercial Bank, Jamaica Tourist Board, Tru-Juice, Pepsi, GraceKennedy, The Gleaner and CVM.

barbara.ellington@gleanerjm.com