Dream Weekend organisers excited as partygoers gear up for annual event
Published:Friday | July 29, 2022 | 12:08 AMAaliyah Cunningham/Gleaner Writer
All roads lead to Negril as partygoers gear up for one of Jamaica’s largest event series — Dream Weekend.
Ahead of the event, scheduled for July 29 to August 1, Kamal Bankay, chairman of Dream Entertainment Ltd, told The Gleaner that his team is energised and ready to put on a successful staging for 2022, after facing regulations brought on by COVID-19.
“We are feeling very excited to be back at work after so long with so many restrictions,” said Bankay.
Though the Government has relaxed COVID-19 protocols, the emergence of monkeypox locally is of concern to healthcare authorities, after the island confirmed two cases of the virus. Nevertheless, Bankay is confident that they have implemented the measures necessary to limit the spread of the viruses.
“We are following all prescribed protocols outlined by the health authorities to limit the spread of communicable diseases,” he told The Gleaner.
The annual week-long event dates back to 2009, when it was first dubbed Dream Weekend. Before that, several signature parties were held in Negril during the Emancipation weekend, namely, Xtreme Wet ‘N’ Wild, YUSH and Twisted Spiritz, which were all a part of Appleton Treasure Island (ATI).
Dream Weekend has been welcomed into Negril over the years by vendors and other workers who usually benefit from an increase in earnings, due to the influx of visitors in the area. However, this year, some said they were unsure of how much they will profit as restrictions have been put in place at the venues. According to Bankay, they have created avenues to still allow persons to do business at the event.
“We welcome and encourage all vendors to participate in the Dream Weekend festival. Vendors need to buy their vending passes from either the Westmoreland or Hanover municipal corporations, depending on where they intend to vend, so it can be properly regulated and sanitary provisions put in place for those that are compliant,” he explained.
As the event’s popularity increases outside of the island, organisers have taken steps to bring the ‘Dream’ experience internationally.
We are currently selling tickets for our first-ever staging in Europe on the beautiful island of Malta this September. We will also be launching Dream NYC (New York City) 2023 in September of this year,” Bankay said.