If you live in the United States, Memorial Weekend kicks off the summer season. MDW is seen as your official stamp of approval on wearing white, hot shorts and feting every weekend. NYC is known for having the hottest Caribbean events stateside; so let’s talk about that. I wanted to try all new events this year.

Vale Vibe Breakfast Party

Saturday morning, I attended Vale Vibe’s breakfast boat-ride on the Hornblower. For $65 or $75, the boat-ride was food inclusive. We walked onto the Hornblower and immediately hit the food line which was ridiculously unorganized at the end of the line but eventually, sorted itself out into two separate food lines. Plates, cutlery and friendly servers stood by and served Trinidadian breakfast eats like coconut bake, fry bake, meat, salt fish, salad etc. On this level of the Hornblower, you could barely hear any of the music playing on the dance floor level. So we ate our food, which was enough to satisfy bellies for 4 hours of drinking, then headed to the top deck to take pictures.

Once we were satisfied with our mini photo shoot, it was time for drinks. Now I knew drinks would be expensive but $16 expensive? I was unprepared, but I’m already on this boat and I need my Johnnie so how much could I really fight it? Bartenders made my drinks well for $16 so I had zero complaints.

We head downstairs to hear the music, because as I mentioned before, you can only hear it near the lower levels of the Hornblower. We walked in and BOOM! A wave of heat immediately hit us in the face. Up until that moment, I was disappointed with the fact that I could not stay on the dance floor because there was no ventilation. It was a good 86 degrees that morning, with bodies gyrating and sweating, no cool air on an enclosed vessel is a crime.

We still tried to have a good time, because you’re trapped on a boat, where are you really going? so we balanced our body heat by going for fresh air, then coming back. The DJs played really well, but I do feel like the Ravers dances just got popular in New York and so lehbeh lehbeh, genna bounce, flairy and fling ya shoulder were overplayed ALL weekend.

Graduates x Kumbiaya

Kumbiaya is a staple event on MDW that I was unaware of, so I decided to go. For $40usd, you got a beautiful venue setup. I was truly pleased with the venue choice and decor upon walking in. Having the ability to use real restrooms that were clean was also a plus.

The vibe kicked off about 7pm once the sun set and the crowd started to file in. Drinks were set around $12usd for a mixed drink, where you purchased a chit first then went to the bar. I had a great time at Kumbiaya, like Vale, a lot of dancehall was played. See us flinging we shoulder.

I ended up at Preve (formerly known as D’Savannah Bar) after Kumbiaya. Preve is the after hour spot for more drinks and to hang out, and I saw many Kumbiaya attendees there so I guess we all needed something else to do once the fete concluded at 11pm.

Chronixx Concert

For the most I chose a pretty chill schedule, Chronixx, who I have seen perform twice before was in town and I could not miss seeing one of my favorite reggae artists perform. After recouping my liver from the day before, we got dressed and headed to Coney Island to see Protoje and Chronixx. And boy it was a time. FIRST OF ALL, it was packed. Not unhealthily packed but filled with people none the less.

Honorable mentions for events I heard were really good: Mawnin Neighbor and Blossom.

In short, MDW was bess. The weekend was a success, and now I can wear white with no judgement from the old folks. What fete did you attend and how was your MDW?