JAMAICA LANDS IN LONDON FOR THE SMIRNOFF NIGHTLIFE EXCHANGE PROJECT

Music stars, celebrities and thousands of revellers celebrate Caribbean culture as London and Jamaica swap nightlife

This past weekend, Alexandra Palace in London was transformed into a unique and extraordinary Jamaican party for the return of the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project, a ground breaking initiative which saw millions of international revellers in 50 countries around the world discover, share and swap nightlife experiences on the same night.

Across the Atlantic, a quintessentially British event took place in Kingston, Jamaica complete with the latest rock, indie and dance music tunes, black taxis and red telephone boxes.

Providing the authentic sounds of the Caribbean and performing to a 3,000 strong crowd in the Kingston Street Party main room, were legendary septuagenarian Jamaican mento maestros The Jolly Boys, who collaborated with Ms Dynamite who has Jamaican roots and dancehall favourite Assassin, for a unique performance of Bob Marley’s classic 'One Love'. Assassin also performed his 'Self Destruct' collaboration with Ms Dynamite live for the very first time.

Ms Dynamite, Photo credit: Matt Crossick/ PA Wire

 

A range of exclusive Jamaican inspired sets were provided by multi-award winning dance super group Basement Jaxx, Radio 1’s Rob da Bank with DJ Shepdog and MC Chunky and one of British dance music’s brightest new talents Toddla T. At the same time, vibrant reggae collective Reggae Roast, Wall of Sound presents Good Vibrations and Soul Jazz Sound System, played the the latest ska, reggae, ragga and dance sounds in the second room, The Sombrero Club.

In addition to the all star line-up, guests were treated to delicious Smirnoff Jamaican Sunrise® vodka cocktails served at the Uptown and Downtown bars, traditional authentic Jamaican street food, enormous real palm trees, carnival dancers and the sounds of a steel drum band.

This one-of-a-kind event, which sold out of 2,000 tickets before the line-up was even announced, was curated with the help of the public, who submitted 10,000 suggestions via Facebook as to what characteristics made their local nightlife culture unique.

Lead singer of The Jolly Boys Albert Minott, 74 comments “It’s great to see Jamaican music back where it belongs on the main stage. The Jolly Boys really have gone full circle and Mento music has found its place with a generation of new people after 70 years. For all those wonderful people lucky enough to be there tonight it was a night to remember, and that we will never forget - Smirnoff we thank you for that.”

Neil Skinner, Marketing Manager for Smirnoff GB comments: “Following last year’s phenomenal success, The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project returned bigger and better and we’re extremely pleased with how the event turnout out. It was very important to us that we provided an authentic Jamaican nightlife experience, which was reflected in the talent line-up and overall event experience. We also called upon our 628,000 strong Facebook community to ensure they played a role in shaping this once in a lifetime event. This is without doubt one of our more colourful and ambitious projects to date and we are very pleased with the result.”

To check out exclusive content including podcasts, videos and photos from the night visit Facebook fan page

The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project event in numbers:

·         Partygoers grooved to over 180 tracks from 10 acts

·         12,000 carefully crafted drinks were enjoyed

·         4 tones of ice were used by 80 of the UK’s best bar staff and mixologists

·         2,500 limes were sliced and squeezed

The crowd at the Smirnoff Nightlife 

Smirnoff Jamaican Sunrise®

Ingredients: 25ml of Smirnoff vodka, 125ml pineapple juice, 10ml grenadine, 1 orange wheel.

Fill a 12oz highball glass with cubed ice, before in the Smirnoff vodka and pineapple juice. Drizzle grenadine in the centre and garnish with the orange wheel

The 50 countries that participated in the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project include: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Dubai, Ecuador, El Salvador, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Romania, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, Trinidad, Turkey, Uruguay, United States, Venezuela and Vietnam.