'Rio De Janeiro' Comes To Portmore

The summer is upon us. Long, enjoyable days at the beach are imminent, but what about the nights?

Well, the beach at night is also perfectly fine, says Marcelo Buckley, promoter of Rio de Janeiro, a beach party to be held at Waves Beach, Portmore, on July 3.

"It's summer and people tend to flock the beaches during the days for a cool getaway from the hot sun, but what about during the night? Some of the nights are hot as well, so it should be fine if you go to the beach in the night and party as well," said Buckley.

To get the Rio de Janeiro theme across, Buckley plans to incorporate decor similar to the scenery of the famed Brazilian city, as well as mixed drinks in the style of the South American country.

Buckley doesn't want to go overboard with the decor, however. "You don't want to overdo it with the decor and end up losing the patrons, because the truth is, many of them may have never been to Rio de Janeiro and don't even know what it looks like. We'll do enough for it to look like, and for you to feel like you're in a different world," Buckley said.

He believes the party will do well because of the flexibility it allows patrons.

"When you're going to the beach, normally you dress down, very down. So for this event it's more of the same. It offers a very flexible atmosphere; for example, yuh don't affi wear a jeans pants, yuh can put on a cargo shorts - and I don't want to use the term cheaper but it's more flexible, everybody can afford it. Yuh have to keep in mind that everybody have their different preferences, so it's like catering for everyone," said Buckley.

Hosting the event has been slightly difficult, however, as according to Buckley the unwillingness of sponsors to be part of the new event gave him a hard time. Nevertheless, Buckley said he understands that the event has to prove its worth before being readily accepted in a competitive sponsorship market.

He aims to provide good music, with disc jockeys Code Red, Chris Diamond, Johnny Kool and Rock Wildaz on the turntables to entertain patrons as much as possible on a warm summer night.

"Rio de Janeiro is for the beautiful women who want to enjoy a night at the beach. We'll have good security because we know the ladies like to feel secure whenever they go out, plus, it's at night and at the beach," said Buckley.