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  • Powering a return to normal life

    Powering a return to normal life

    Nearly six months after Category 5 Hurricane Melissa carved a path of destruction across western Jamaica’s parishes, school leaders from storm-ravaged communities gathered Tuesday at the National Education Trust (NET) headquarters in St Andrew to receive a life-changing donation: 20 portable dual-fuel generators provided through a collaborative partnership between NET and the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Foundation.

    For educators and students still picking up the pieces of their learning environments after the devastating storm, the new power sources are far more than emergency equipment. They represent a critical step toward restoring normalcy, renewing hope, and securing stable, functional learning spaces for thousands of children displaced by the hurricane.

    Ryan Stone, acting principal of St Elizabeth’s Mulgrave Primary School, one of the beneficiary institutions, called the donation transformative. His campus suffered catastrophic damage when Hurricane Melissa’s high winds ripped off large sections of the school’s roof, destroyed furniture and learning materials, knocked down perimeter fencing, and fried the campus’s entire electrical system. While the school has partially reopened, students have continued to grapple with lingering trauma, requiring ongoing psychosocial support from visiting psychologists, guidance counselors from neighboring schools, and specialists from Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness.

    Stone recounted that some students have described the storm as “wicked” or “gluttonous,” with one young student telling counselors, “She ate up everything.” A recent cold front bringing heavy winds even triggered widespread re-traumatization, forcing school leaders to call in additional support teams. Against this backdrop, Stone said the generator donation is a much-needed boost to the school’s long recovery process.

    “ The generator represents more than just power — it symbolises hope, resilience and a renewed opportunity for our students to learn in a safe and stable environment,” Stone told the Jamaica Observer on the sidelines of Tuesday’s handover ceremony.

    Victoria Gooden-Green, vice-principal of Darliston Primary School in Westmoreland, echoed that gratitude, outlining the daily struggles her staff and students have faced since the storm destroyed their school’s roof. Currently, classes for the campus’s most vulnerable group, grade six students preparing for national exams, are held in two temporary tents donated by UNICEF — and not all students can attend in-person classes daily. Without consistent power, the school has also been unable to support digital learning activities that have become a core part of modern education, from streaming educational content to charging student devices.

    “Having the generators, that will help us immensely to do what we have to do,” Gooden-Green said, noting that many students lost everything when the storm hit their homes and communities, and continue to live with the lingering emotional impact of the disaster. “It’s not an easy time for us but we know that the toughest soldiers get the strongest fight. We will bounce back because we are resilient, and no matter how dark it seems, the sun will shine again.”

    The Generator Donation Initiative was launched in direct response to the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa in October 2023. In the aftermath of the storm, NET reached out to the MSC Foundation to mobilize support for the hardest-hit education institutions, and the partnership ultimately resulted in 20 15,000-watt DuroMax dual-fuel generators being procured for the affected schools.

    Speaking at the handover ceremony, Jamaica’s State Minister for Tourism Tova Hamilton praised the cross-sector collaboration, framing the donation as a model for community-focused recovery. She emphasized that public-private partnerships like this one deliver tangible benefits to communities through targeted educational support, infrastructure investment, and capacity building that strengthens national resilience.

    “We see today not as the end of a gesture but as the opening of a door — a door to stronger partnership, deeper engagement, and shared growth,” Hamilton said. “On behalf of the Government and people of Jamaica, I express sincere appreciation to MSC Foundation and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company Jamaica Limited for this meaningful intervention. This is a demonstration that tourism at its best is a force for national development, strengthening communities, supporting education and building resilience. Jamaica is grateful, Jamaica remembers, and Jamaica looks forward to even stronger partnership in the months and years ahead.”

  • Court appearance for soldier charged in girlfriend’s murder delayed to Friday

    Court appearance for soldier charged in girlfriend’s murder delayed to Friday

    MANCHESTER, JAMAICA – The first court hearing for a Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) service member accused of murdering his romantic partner in a brutal domestic incident in Manchester last week has been rescheduled for Friday, after a last-minute delay pushed the originally scheduled Wednesday appearance.

    Twenty-seven-year-old Damanice Tyrone Williamson, the accused soldier, was set to face a preliminary hearing at the Manchester Parish Court this week. But when assembled reporters arrived to cover the high-profile case, the defendant’s legal representative, attorney Norman Godfrey, confirmed that proceedings would be pushed back to the end of the week.

    The charges against Williamson stem from the fatal killing of 29-year-old Tanzanya Dunkley, which took place at a residential property in the Three Chains community of Manchester. Authorities confirmed that Williamson has confessed to the killing, which unfolded during a verbal confrontation between the pair. But the details of his confession have sent shockwaves across the island nation: an anonymous police source briefed on the investigation told local media that Williamson claimed an unknown “voice” commanded him to carry out the deadly attack.

    According to the police source’s account of the confession, the confrontation began when Dunkley made the decision to end her relationship with Williamson. In response, the soldier grabbed her mobile phone; when Dunkley held onto him to retrieve the device, Williamson says the voice ordered him to kill her. He then picked up a knife and sliced her throat, the confession alleges.

    Law enforcement has also released additional chilling details about the moments leading up to the killing. Before the attack, they confirmed, Williamson approached Dunkley’s 12-year-old daughter, told her he needed to speak privately with her mother, and directed the child to go upstairs to the upper level of the family home. Moments later, he murdered Dunkley before fleeing the property.

    Neighbors who were in the area that Friday afternoon corroborated the timeline, telling local reporters they heard loud screams coming from the residence around 3 p.m. Shortly after, they saw a man matching Williamson’s description running from the home, his clothing covered in what witnesses described as blood.

    In the aftermath of the killing, a second video has also spread widely across Jamaican social media, adding more fuel to public outcry. The footage, which was reportedly filmed inside the Mandeville Police Station after Williamson was taken into custody, shows a man believed to be the accused holding what looks to be a knife, begging responding officers to shoot and kill him on the spot. The clip has now gone viral, drawing tens of thousands of views and intense public comment.

    The brutal killing has already reignited long-simmering national conversations about the pervasive crisis of domestic violence in Jamaica, a problem that advocacy groups have repeatedly highlighted as requiring urgent systemic intervention. As the public awaits Williamson’s rescheduled court appearance this Friday, community leaders and anti-violence activists continue to call for greater action to address gender-based harm across the country.

  • Hurricane-ravaged Black River Hospital to have operating theatre back shortly

    Hurricane-ravaged Black River Hospital to have operating theatre back shortly

    In the coastal town of Black River, St Elizabeth, Jamaica, recovery efforts following the devastation of Hurricane Melissa are progressing steadily, with a senior regional health authority leader projecting that major rehabilitation work at the storm-ravaged Black River Hospital will be nearly complete within two months.

    Michael Bent, Director of the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA), shared the update in an interview with Jamaica Observer last Thursday, outlining a phased timeline for restoring critical services at the facility that once served the region with 150 inpatient beds. When Hurricane Melissa hit, the storm surge between 8 and 14 feet destroyed much of the hospital’s infrastructure, forcing a dramatic reduction in operational capacity. Today, the facility runs on just a third of its original capacity: 35 beds are set up in a temporary field hospital, and an additional 15 beds have been created by converting part of the Emergency Department into an impromptu ward.

    According to Bent, the restoration project includes targeted modifications to expand usable space beyond the pre-hurricane layout in some areas. Work crews are enclosing open-air corridors to create new, enclosed bed spaces, a change that will offset a small net reduction in total capacity once all repairs are finished. Bent confirmed that the hospital’s critical operating theatre, a core service for the local community, is expected to be fully operational again within 7 to 10 days, no later than mid-April. All inpatient wards are on track to be reopened and back in service by the end of May, bringing the hospital’s total capacity back up to roughly 135 beds.

    While short-term repairs are moving forward on schedule, the long-term future of the hospital remains tied to a broader climate-resilient redevelopment plan for the entire town of Black River. Bent confirmed that local and national authorities have held initial consultations about permanently relocating the hospital to higher inland ground, as proposed by the national government, but no final decision has been reached, and the full relocation process will take years to complete.

    Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness first laid out the government’s ambitious long-term vision for Black River during his contribution to the 2026/27 Budget Debate last month. He detailed how Hurricane Melissa’s powerful storm surge devastated the town’s historic waterfront, destroyed multiple civic buildings, and left critical public infrastructure severely damaged. In response, the government is not planning to simply rebuild the town as it stood before the storm. Instead, the Urban Development Corporation, in partnership with international development stakeholders, is developing a comprehensive climate-resilient redevelopment plan that separates coastal uses from essential public infrastructure that needs to be protected from future storm surges and long-term sea level rise.

    Under the plan, a new planned urban core will be built on elevated inland ground, well above projected flood and sea level rise thresholds. All of Black River’s core public services, including the hospital, courthouse, municipal offices, police station, tax office, local school, public market, and transport hub, will be consolidated into a single, walkable, flood-safe precinct — a planned civic center the 300-year-old town has never had before. The new development will also include a public town square and civic park, and all new buildings will be engineered to withstand Category 5 hurricane winds, built on elevated platforms, and equipped with modernized drainage, utility corridors, and emergency backup systems to ensure resilience against future climate events.

  • Kintyre shareholders say NYSE plans unaffected by VM legal dispute

    Kintyre shareholders say NYSE plans unaffected by VM legal dispute

    KINGSTON, JAMAICA – Amid ongoing legal proceedings tied to collateral shares involving VM Investments Limited, the controlling shareholder group of Kintyre Holdings (JA) Limited has publicly clarified that its proposed international corporate restructuring and pursuit of a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listing remain fully on track.

    In an official statement released on April 2, the group emphasized that it is not a named party to any litigation against VM Investments, even though the current dispute centers on share pledges held by entities connected to the controlling shareholder bloc. The proposed restructuring, the group explained, is limited exclusively to rearranging ownership stakes within the controlling group, and does not alter the operational or corporate structure of Kintyre Holdings (JA) Limited itself.

    To date, the shareholder group has not provided clear guidance on how existing debt obligations tied to the pledged shares will be addressed as part of the proposed reorganization. The statement explicitly carved out VM Investments’ holdings from the restructuring plan, noting that any shares held by VM are bound by separate existing contractual arrangements, outstanding security charges, and the ongoing court dispute – none of which are included in the new international holding structure or the reorganization effort.

    The clarification comes as Kintyre Holdings grapples with a massive $504.58 million outstanding debt, secured by share pledges that were valued far higher when the loan was originated. Currently, Kintyre’s stock trades at roughly $0.35 per share, a steep drop from the valuation that backed the collateral. This sharp decline has created a major gap between the current market value of the pledged shares and the outstanding loan balance, leaving market observers uncertain how much of the total debt will ultimately be recoverable by creditors.

    The shareholder group said the clarification was necessary after recent public comments connected to the legal dispute created widespread confusion about the group’s intentions and role in the process. It added that legal counsel has already been engaged to review recent statements and evaluate potential legal action against parties spreading misleading information.

    Despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the share dispute, the controlling bloc reaffirmed its long-term commitment to building a global investment holding firm with a operational footprint across the Caribbean and Latin America. To back up its confidence in the business, the group pointed to strong recent operating results: the company now holds total assets in excess of $15 million, and posted record-breaking profitability in 2025, marking a solid upward growth trajectory. The group also made clear it will aggressively push back against any attempts to disrupt or mischaracterize its restructuring and listing plans.

  • RECRUITMENT RUSH

    RECRUITMENT RUSH

    MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Following the recent termination of the long-standing Cuban medical support programme, Jamaica’s Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) has launched an urgent recruitment drive to replace departing Cuban medical specialists across the south-central region of the country.

    In an exclusive interview with Jamaica Observer, SRHA Director Michael Bent outlined the scale of the staffing gap created by the programme’s end. Across SRHA’s coverage area, approximately 30 Cuban medical professionals have exited the system: 10 based at facilities in Mandeville, another 10 in Clarendon, and the remaining 10 working at smaller parish-level health sites. While the authority has already hired local Jamaican doctors and nurses to cover non-specialist roles, Bent confirmed that critical gaps remain in high-skill specialty departments that have yet to be filled.

    The most pressing needs are concentrated at Mandeville Regional Hospital, where the radiology and nephrology departments are currently operating without their Cuban specialist leads. Bent expressed confidence that these positions can be filled quickly, noting that formal recruitment processes are scheduled to launch before the end of the current month. In the interim, the SRHA has implemented contingency measures to prevent disruption to patient care, drawing on existing local medical staff who previously worked alongside the Cuban team to cover core services.

    “To date, we haven’t seen any major disruption to care delivery because of the exit of the Cuban professionals,” Bent explained. “Our local medical teams already worked side-by-side with their Cuban counterparts for years, so while we are facing a clear manpower challenge, we still have the core skills in place to keep services running. We are working aggressively to close that gap as quickly as possible.”

    For the radiology department, the authority has arranged for part-time coverage from specialist staff based at Black River health facilities while recruitment is ongoing, a temporary solution Bent says is keeping services on track.

    Alwyn Miller, chief executive officer of Mandeville Regional Hospital, echoed Bent’s assessment, noting that even the loss of a single high-skill specialist creates a major impact for the facility. Miller explained that Cuban medics brought rare, much-needed specialist expertise that is in short supply locally. Beyond radiology and nephrology, Miller confirmed that the hospital’s accident and emergency department lost a specialist nurse, the high-dependency unit lost multiple clinical staff, and the pathology department lost at least one senior specialist.

    “Even the loss of one highly trained specialist hits hard when we are already operating with tight staffing margins for these roles, because the skills they brought were irreplaceable in the short term,” Miller said. Still, he emphasized that the hospital’s local team has remained resilient in the face of the challenge. “Our team is incredibly dedicated and used to problem-solving through the obstacles we face every day. We’re continuing to deliver care day by day as we work to secure long-term replacements for these critical roles.”

  • Treasure Beach gets major waste management boost with SPM, BREDS partnership

    Treasure Beach gets major waste management boost with SPM, BREDS partnership

    On a sunny Wednesday in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, one of the island’s most beloved community-focused tourism destinations took a meaningful leap forward in environmental stewardship with the official launch of the “Let’s Keep Treasure Beach Clean” project. The initiative is the product of a collaborative partnership between SPM Waste Management Limited, one of Jamaica’s leading waste management service providers, and the BREDS Treasure Beach Foundation, a local non-profit organization dedicated to advancing community well-being and conservation in the area.

    The launch event was hosted at Kingfish Plaza, located in the scenic coastal district of Calabash Bay, drawing together local business owners, community leaders, government representatives, and residents to mark the start of the program. At its core, the project is designed to do two key things: boost compliance with sustainable waste management practices among both local households and commercial operators, and meet the rising infrastructure needs of Treasure Beach’s fast-growing community tourism sector, which draws thousands of eco-conscious travelers to the area each year.

    One of the most tangible first actions of the initiative was the unveiling of roughly 100 custom garbage drums, which will be distributed to a wide range of community stakeholders in the coming weeks. These new containers are engineered to improve waste containment across the region, cutting down on litter that can wash into coastal ecosystems and make regular waste collection routes far more efficient for sanitation teams.

    Speaking to assembled attendees at the launch, Mayor Richard Solomon emphasized that a consistently clean, unspoiled natural environment is the backbone of Treasure Beach’s ongoing appeal as a top tourism destination. “As our community continues to expand, especially in the small-scale cottage accommodation sector that is central to our tourism model, we cannot afford to let our guard down when it comes to protecting the landscapes and shorelines that draw visitors here,” Solomon told the crowd. “Keeping our home clean is a responsibility that falls on every single one of us, and it directly shapes both our economic prosperity and our quality of life.”

    Sheldon Smith, Regional Operations Manager at SPM Waste Management Limited, used his address to call for a lasting shift in how local residents think about waste disposal. Smith explained that improper disposal habits—including illegal dumping and incorrect waste sorting—place unnecessary extra strain on municipal and private waste collection systems, stretching resources thin and reducing service quality for the entire community. “Waste management isn’t just a job for sanitation trucks and collection officers,” Smith noted. “It starts with every individual making the right choice about how and where they throw away their trash. Every person has a part to play in keeping our shared community clean.”

    Jason Henzel, chairman of the BREDS Treasure Beach Foundation, framed the new initiative as a critical step to protecting the unique community-led tourism legacy that has made Treasure Beach a global model for sustainable travel. “Treasure Beach has been a standard-bearer for responsible community tourism for decades, built on the vision of early pioneers like Desmond Henry who saw the value of growing tourism without sacrificing our natural home,” Henzel said. “This partnership between the private sector and local community groups ensures that as we welcome more visitors and grow our local economy, we do it in a way that protects what makes this place special.”

    Delroy Williams, State Minister in Jamaica’s Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, also attended the launch and praised the cross-sector collaboration between the private company and local non-profit. Williams highlighted that the project aligns perfectly with the Jamaican government’s broader national goals to upgrade public services and improve community infrastructure across the island. He also shared that ongoing national economic growth will allow the government to allocate more resources to waste management and public service delivery in communities across Jamaica in the coming months.

    Overall, the launch of “Let’s Keep Treasure Beach Clean” represents a key investment in both long-term environmental protection and inclusive local economic development. It serves as a reminder of how cross-sector partnerships and active public participation can work together to preserve Jamaica’s unique natural and built environments for future generations.

  • KEEPING IT JAMAICAN

    KEEPING IT JAMAICAN

    For more than two decades starting at the turn of the 21st century, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has relied on foreign leadership to guide the country’s iconic men’s national team, the Reggae Boyz, appointing seven overseas head coaches in that stretch. But a crushing late failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has pushed the federation to turn a new page, with JFF President Michael Ricketts confirming the organisation will now prioritise homegrown coaching candidates, citing widespread mismanagement under the most recent foreign appointee, former England manager Steve McClaren.

    Jamaica’s 22-year wait to return to the World Cup — a drought that dates back to their historic 1998 appearance — stretched on for at least another four years last week, when a narrow 0-1 defeat to African side DR Congo in the intercontinental play-off final held at Guadalajara’s Estadio Akron dashed the Reggae Boyz’ hopes of a spot in this summer’s tournament. This marked the second missed qualification opportunity in just months: the side already fell short of automatic booking during the final round of Concacaf qualifying in 2025.

    McClaren’s tenure with the national team ended almost six months before the decisive play-off match, after a 0-0 draw with World Cup-bound Curacao at Kingston’s National Stadium in November 2025. The English manager stepped down after just 16 months in the role, having failed to secure a win in 12 of his 23 matches in charge. Following his exit, veteran Jamaican coach Rudolph Speid stepped into the role on an interim basis, with another local specialist, Miguel Coley, joining him as assistant coach.

    From the earliest months of McClaren’s tenure, his leadership was dogged by controversy, as the Jamaica Observer first reported in November 2025. Sources within the federation cited persistent tension between the manager and JFF leadership, as well as widespread criticism of how he handled locally based Jamaican players. Most notably, McClaren chose to maintain his primary residence in England throughout his tenure, a decision that proved deeply unpopular with both federation officials and fans.

    McClaren became the second consecutive foreign coach to exit the Reggae Boyz post early. Before him, Icelandic manager Heimir Hallgrímsson stepped down in June 2024, and less than two weeks later accepted the top job with the Republic of Ireland’s men’s national side.

    To put the federation’s decades-long preference for foreign coaches in context, just four Jamaican-born coaches have led the Reggae Boyz over the past 26 years. Prior to the recent string of foreign appointments, Theodore Whitmore, a former Reggae Boyz star, led the national side from 2016 to 2021. After Whitmore’s exit, his former assistant and national teammate Paul Hall took over on an interim basis before the first of the back-to-back foreign appointments. Carl Brown and Wendel Downswell are the other two homegrown managers to hold the top job in recent decades.

    Speid and Coley’s interim contracts expired immediately after the conclusion of the World Cup intercontinental play-off, leaving the top two technical positions on the national team staff vacant as the JFF begins its search for a permanent appointment. Ricketts, who now says he regrets entrusting the team’s World Cup campaign to a foreign manager, made clear that local candidates are the clear front-runners for the roles this time around.

    “I tried again with overseas coaches and the rest is history. I don’t think the programme was managed very well,” Ricketts told the Jamaica Observer in an interview. “Now these local coaches are here, they see our local players, they watch games, they keep abreast of what is happening in domestic club football. They keep in contact with me, they keep in contact with the JFF directors, so we are always updated on the technical aspect of the team by these local coaches. They are rooted here, so you are bound to have consistent working relationships that you don’t get with overseas coaches who come and go at their own discretion, which sometimes is not ideal for our situation.”

    The JFF board of directors is set to formalise its appointment before the end of April, with the Reggae Boyz scheduled to return to competitive action next month at the Unity Cup in England. Upcoming key fixtures for the side also include Concacaf Nations League matches later this year, followed by the 2027 CONCACAF Gold Cup, making a swift appointment a priority for the federation.

    While the final decision rests with the full board, not Ricketts alone, the JFF president said he strongly favours retaining the current interim leadership team for the next two-year cycle. “I would certainly want to have Speid and Coley to continue with our programmes,” he said. “But if Speid and Coley are interested, then certainly they will be my choice to be head coach and assistant coach, at least for the next two years.”

    For their part, Speid is expected to retain his current role as manager of defending Jamaica Premier League champions Cavalcer if he accepts the national position, while Coley is currently contracted to Iraqi top-flight side Zakho SC and will need to resolve his club commitments before taking the national job full-time.

  • UN reporting wave of displacement in Haiti following recent criminal gang attacks

    UN reporting wave of displacement in Haiti following recent criminal gang attacks

    NEW YORK – The United Nations has issued an urgent update confirming that a fresh surge of brutal gang violence in Haiti’s northern Artibonite department has driven a new wave of mass displacement across the crisis-stricken Caribbean nation.

    The bloodshed unfolded in late March, when armed assailants linked to the Gran Grif gang—one of Haiti’s most powerful and feared criminal groups—launched coordinated assaults on communities in Jean-Denis. According to preliminary on-the-ground reports, the attacks left at least 16 civilians dead and dozens more wounded, shocking local populations and triggering immediate panic-driven flight.

    Initial assessments pegged the number of newly displaced people at more than 6,000, but updated figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) released by the UN now put the total number of people displaced by this recent outbreak of violence above 13,000.

    In a press briefing Tuesday at UN Headquarters in New York, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric shared details from humanitarian teams operating in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, noting that 80 percent of the displaced have found temporary shelter with host families across safer regions of the country. The remaining 20 percent are now residing in 16 informal displacement sites, where basic supplies and services are already stretched thin.

    “Humanitarian teams from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) are working alongside Haitian national authorities and local partner organizations to deliver life-saving support to vulnerable populations,” Dujarric said. “But persistent access constraints, widespread insecurity, and critically limited funding are severely hampering our ability to scale up the response to meet growing need.”

    The international community has already spoken out against the latest attacks, with both the United States and Canada issuing formal condemnations of the gang violence that continues to destabilize Haiti.

    This new crisis comes amid a years-long collapse of public security across Haiti, a French-speaking member of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). Widespread gang domination and escalating violence have plagued the country since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, leaving millions of Haitians facing acute food insecurity, lack of access to basic healthcare, and persistent threat of violence. Millions have been displaced nationwide since the security collapse began.

  • Congratulations to the newlyweds!

    Congratulations to the newlyweds!

    New behind-the-scenes glimpses from a star-studded wedding reception have emerged, with Vogue holding exclusive rights to the full details of the high-profile celebration. Headlined by sprinter and groom Noah Lyles, the event brought together a roster of big-name guests from the global sports community, including retired Jamaican Olympian sprinter Asafa Powell, who was captured cutting a rug on the dance floor alongside the newlywed groom.
    Beyond the social dancing that kept the crowd energized throughout the evening, the reception included two standout planned segments: a personal, heartfelt address from the groom to his guests and new spouse, and a one-of-a-kind special performance from Grammy Award-winning gospel recording artist Tasha Cobbs Leonard.
    Vogue’s exclusive photo journal from the big day also captures a lively moment from the wedding’s bridal party, who took to the dance floor to perform a choreographed routine to the popular Afrobeat track “Shake It To The Max”, released by artists Moliy and Silent Addy, featuring dancehall stars Skillibeng and Shenseea. All official photography from the event was shot by creative studio Stanlo Photography, and full unshared details from the wedding day are available exclusively to readers on vogue.com.

  • Malie Donn closes Vacae Weekend with electrifying performance at Campari Sandz Festival

    Malie Donn closes Vacae Weekend with electrifying performance at Campari Sandz Festival

    OCHO RIOS, Jamaica — The 2026 edition of Jamaica’s beloved Vacae Weekend drew to a spectacular close on Monday evening at Plantation Cove in St. Ann, where the sold-out Campari Sandz Festival brought a four-day celebration of Caribbean music and culture to a rousing standing ovation. The annual Easter weekend entertainment series capped its run with a high-energy grand finale headlined by one of dancehall’s fastest-rising talents, Malie Donn, whose commanding set cemented his status as one of the genre’s most exciting new acts.

    Thousands of enthusiastic music fans packed the St. Ann venue for the closing event, turning out in droves to cap their long weekend with live entertainment that blended chart-topping music, immersive production, and signature Caribbean hospitality. For years, Sandz has built a reputation as one of Jamaica’s most polished and dynamic festival events, and this year’s iteration did not disappoint. Attendees were treated to a stacked lineup that mixed live vocal performances with sets from some of the region’s most in-demand DJs, including Shukkle Bus, Chromatic, Donhot and Ricky Platinum, who kept energy high from gates open through the final encore.

    The night’s undeniable highlight was Malie Donn’s performance, the latest career milestone for the V6 deejay who has quickly climbed the ranks of the global dancehall scene. Taking the stage to roaring cheers, the breakout artist delivered a 45-minute set packed with his biggest fan-favorite hits, including *7:00 pm*, *Body Tea*, and *Dragga*. His high-octane, audience-focused performance held the crowd’s attention from start to finish, with thousands singing along to every lyric and reinforcing the growing commercial and cultural traction he has earned across the Caribbean and beyond.

    Complementing the on-stage talent was this year’s carefully executed *Pirates of the Caribbean*-themed production, which wove a cohesive visual narrative through every element of the festival space. From the custom-built stage design to small decorative touches scattered throughout the venue, the theme was brought to life seamlessly, creating a visually immersive atmosphere that elevated the entire attendee experience.

    For event organizers, the smooth execution of this year’s Sandz Festival is a clear marker of how far Vacae Weekend has come as a premium international entertainment brand. Andrew Ellis, CEO of Twenty14 Ltd — the parent company behind Vacae Weekend — noted that the 2026 event hit every goal organizers set out to achieve. “This year, we focused on delivering a strong, satisfying finish to what had already been a perfect weekend of celebration,” Ellis explained. “From the headlining performance to the small production details, everything came together seamlessly. We’re endlessly proud of the work our team puts in to pull off an event of this scale, and to bring this kind of world-class experience to Jamaica.”

    This year’s Vacae Weekend would not have been possible without the long-term support of title sponsor Campari Group, whose ongoing investment in Jamaica’s entertainment and cultural sector helped elevate every element of the event. Across the four-day series, the global beverage group integrated its portfolio of premium brands to enhance multiple attendee touchpoints, aligning with the company’s long-standing commitment to backing events that center Caribbean music, lifestyle and cultural heritage. For attendees, organizers and artists alike, the 2026 Campari Sandz Festival has set a new bar for future editions of the beloved Easter weekend tradition.