If you have been following this Blog over the years you would realize that I am not one to attend too many fetes for Carnival. I figure I am already going to be enjoying the biggest fete there is, two days of playing mas on the road, and with prohibitive fete prices I choose which fetes do attend wisely. In the past years of this Blog's existence I have reviewed UWI Fete, Blue Range All Inclusive, One Fete and Beach House. This year was the first time I attended the legendary Soka In Moka , now on to the review:
Soka in Moka starts at 4:00PM, I suggest in future to get there earlier than the 6:00PM I planned on arriving since traffic started from the entrance to Moka off the Saddle Road and crawled for about 30 mins before we got to the car park. Points for the free parking however.
Layout of the Fete was good, I just wished there were more bars instead of the two huge bars they had on either side of the Fete. As you entered the food tents were on the left and right with a seating area in the middle for those who could not eat while standing. After you passed this area there was an open space (packed with people) and the stage.
Food was standard all inclusive fare, no gourmet doubles or sushi, but it was tasty and for the most part the lines were not incredibly long except for the wantons! On the menu, gyros, sea food cocktail, oysters, corn soup, accra, stuffed crab dumplings, wantons, pow, dim sum, Chinese Food, pork, mini roti, corn soup and "local" snacks; I am sure there were more things to sample but I did not get around to all of it. I have come to appreciate finger food at All Inclusives because I am personally not sitting down to eat dinner when I have come to fete. Johnny Walker and Coconut Water never ran out at the bar so I was good to go in the drinks department, not sure if there were more premium brands on the drinks list. There was sometimes a wait at the bar especially as the crowd grew in numbers and the Yellow Tail tent ran out of wine.
I arrived when Roy Cape was on Stage, missed the majority of Rita Jones performance but was in time for Benjai and Blaxx, still loving Wine To The Side but I must admit it is getting a bit tired to the ears now. Great performance by Benjai, he warmed up the crowd nicely before Dil E Nadan came on.
Dil E Nadan, simply put they killed the vibes. Even though some patrons enjoyed their back in time session, I did not. I could have done without their performance the best part of their time on stage was when Denise Saucy Wow Belfon came on stage.
Kes The Band has greatly improved with a nice repertoire of songs and an actual performance by Kes on stage, he has come into his own as a performer. For the first half of their performance it was all about Kes being Wotless, at one point I had to ask where was Nadia; she came on later with Talpree. Easily the best band to perform for the night. They were joined by several guest artistes, JW & Blaze (still palancing), Shal an Screws.
Demographic of the crowd was more mature than others I have been to with the exception of UWI Fete. This was definitely not one of the poser Fetes where everyone stands around chatting catching up on gossip, people were really letting loose and having a good time !
Overall for my first Fete of the season Soka In Moka was good a solid 3.5 out of 5. I had a good time, the price was right, enjoyed the performance by Kes but not too sure this fete will make it as a staple on my Fete Calender for years to come.
