All-Stars at Great Fete

So everyone wants to know who’s coming for this year’s Sandbox Great Fete Weekend. The question has been posted on social network site, Facebook since the 2011 edition ended. Sandbox event manager, Chenier Belgrave says the answer to the question has haunted him and his entire crew for months. “Giving the people what they want, when they want it, is our stock in trade, so making the choice of who would be the headliners at this year’s event came with a lot of consultation with the many stakeholders in the event,” Belgrave said. “Great Fete Weekend is pleased to showcase what we call the All-Stars of the Caribbean music industry.” 

 

On the line-up of this year’s Great Fete Weekend cast is none other than the Grammy award-winning artiste, Beenie Man, and red hot dancehall star Konshens. Belgrave was quick to point out, however, that Beenie Man is only one of the headliners at this year’s Sandbox Great Fete Weekend. The region’s top entertainers—soca, pop and dancehall—will be there. This year’s stars include Kes The Band at the Free Drinks & Cooler Beach Party at Pigeon Point on Friday night. Dancehall veterans, Merciless and Hawkeye will feature at the Retro Thursday event in Crown Point. Great Fete Weekend kicks off on July 25, with Free Drinks Wednesday and Retro Thursday in Crown Point, before moving to Pigeon Point Beach on Fantastic Soca Friday, which is packed with local entertainers and after party shuttles to Plymouth J’Ouvert on Saturday morning.

 

The biggest event of the weekend continues to be the Wet Fete, where water and music powerhouses share the same stage. Belgrave points out that the stars of Great Fete Weekend are the DJs, the party crews and the patrons themselves. “This is not a come, stand up and watch the stage type of thing. It’s about music, it’s about fun, the experience,” Belgrave said. Scores of eager partygoers are marking their calendars as they count down the days to the much anticipated event. “When we took over this event 12 years ago it was a relatively small part of the Great Race celebrations,” Belgrave said. “When Great Race decided to move to the end of August it created a void in the domestic tourism calendar for the July/August vacation period. Against everybody’s advice we stood our ground. We rebranded the entire weekend and built it back on our own. “Fast forward to today, Great Fete Weekend is about twice the size of the Great Race, as far as attracting domestic and regional tourism dollars.” Founding members of Sandbox Entertainment include Kevan “Sandbox” Gibbs, Chenier Belgrave, Dennis Tayé and Joel “Noise” Morris.

 

About Great Fete

 

The event—a veritable melting pot of local pop culture and extreme party vibes—is a four-night beach party. It showcases some of the hottest DJs, sound systems, soca artistes and celebrities from  T&T and the Caribbean. Born out of the celebrations surrounding the annual powerboat racing event, the Great Fete Weekend is growing in popularity and is now considered one of the premiere beach parties in the Caribbean. For ticket and sponsorship information call 1-868-389-6880