Look ma, the last Soaka ticket!

Without a doubt Soaka is that one fete where the tickets seem to be just as rare and sought after as Willie Wonka’s golden ticket. And as the date of the 2015 installment quickly approached, things got even crazier – I heard talk of people auctioning off their tickets to the highest bidder, I saw people venting online abut how Carnival has become so exclusive that even if they were willing to spend their money to go to the fete they needed to know someone, who know the cousin of a committee member to even have a chance of getting a ticket and even that didn’t guarantee them a ticket. I even met one old school friend at the mall and she had that lost, teary eyed look when I told her I couldn’t help her get a ticket…yes, apparently it was that serious.

So, of course when last minute me and my crew decided the day before that we wanted to go, I expected a song and dance through hoops of fire to get me a ticket, but alas it was meant to be. One phone call and $350 later (thanks BC), I had that elusive golden ticket, erhm, I mean Soaka ticket in hand.

Now for those of you new to this Carnival feting game, let me bring you up to speed here. Soaka is a fete that has grown from a crowd of mere hundreds to a mass of thousands of feters in just a few short years. With lots of water, coloured powder or abir and that magical night into day transition, the turning point in the demand for Soaka was the 2013 edition where Machel Montano filmed his epic Fog video. There is something about getting wet and colourfully dirty while standing on a cooler that we trinbagonians seem to love, and this fete has all of those elements and then some.

I always prep for these breakfast parties by hitting my bed about 8 pm the night before, so, I was fully charged by the time I made my way down to the O2 Park in Chaguaramas around 4 am. Usually for fetes this large, down on the Western peninsula there is insane traffic to get to the venue but not this year. Luckily…I even managed to get a park really close to the entrance. There were no long lines to enter even though there were masses of people constantly streaming in. I loved that first to greet patron were the various brand ambassadors offering free samples, so two shots of Jose Cuervo tequila later and I was ready to tackle the massive crowd in front of me.

We assumed our customary position on the hill to the northern side of the stage where I was safe from the men hoisted on cranes to soak the crowd, but the thousands of people gathered below definitely came out to get wet. Not only was my vantage point relatively safe from the hoses, but I also had a fantastic view of the sailboats gently bobbing in the calm waters of Hart’s Cut.

It was a little after 6 am when Monk Monte (Machel Montano) exploded on to the stage, igniting the crowd with an extended version of his road march contender “Like a Boss”. Almost simultaneously fireworks started lighting up what was left of the night’s sky behind me…now this had me a bit confused. Why set off fireworks away from the direction that the crowd was looking? Seemed like a complete waste to me as everyone was clearly more focused on Machel and his antics on stage in the complete opposite direction. As usual Double M did not disappoint as he performed for almost two hours, and even gave us a first glimpse of his collaboration with Diplo and Arianna Grande “All My Love”.

So I try not to compare fetes to their earlier incarnations in previous years but sometimes I can’t help it. Somehow Soaka 2015 did not soak down the crowd for as long and as intense as had been the norm. By 7.30 am the sun was blazing hot and the water was done. And even though it made it easier for me to keep meh dry weather hair in tact, I felt robbed of the water. Even more surprising was how abruptly the fete ended. Music just stopped. Literally. Party done.

Unlike how easy it was getting there, leaving the venue was a traffic nightmare, even though there were numerous crews that hired maxis to transport them to and from the fete, the gridlock was mind numbingly insane. It literally took me two hours from O2 Park to Port-of-Spain and that’s only because I left immediately as the party was over; others weren’t so lucky, as I heard people spent up to four hours fighting up with the traffic to leave Chaguaramas.

Somehow four hours of traffic could erase any trace of a good time that may have been had, but we can’t hold the promoters responsible for the clear lack of infrastructure that exists with the one road in, one road out that has plagued Chaguaramas for years…one would only hope that with all the plans for the massive development of the area that the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) has a solid plan in place to deal with the traffic because it makes no sense having all these grandiose ideas and people can’t get in or out of the area easily.