The Appleton crew of Syble Patterson (left) and co-workers Andrew Pyrce, Rema Wright, and Patti Dougall get ready to throw it down at the ATI launch party. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

The battle of the All Inclusive Independence weekend parties in Negril has begun, as Appleton Treasure Island (A.T.I) was officially launched on Wednesday at the Mas Camp Village, Oxford Road, New Kingston.

As a precursor to the Independence weekend Mas Camp was a beach fantasy. With palm trees, beach chairs and tons of sand on what is usually gravel, the setting set the atmosphere to party.

The venue took a while to fill up as the selectors from Coppershot, DJ Stylez and DJ Donny, hit the right note with the guests.

Made merry

Coppershot started slow with some older hip-hop tunes before going into Nelly Furtado's Promiscuous Girl.

The Mas Camp really heated up after patrons made merry from a wealth of seafood available, then 'wukked up' to a slew of soca hits such as Machel Montano's One More Time, Destra's I Dare You and many more. The lovely Appleton girls in their white bikinis served Appleton shots and enticed the men to the dance floor as they danced up a storm.

It was down to business at 10:30 p.m. when David Walton, brand manager of Appleton Jamaica Rum made a brief speech on the parties to come. Walton said that ATI was rated as the number-one party weekend in Jamaica.

"Our line-up includes seven all-inclusive parties that are so incredible that we coined the phrase Appleton Super Seven," he said.

Season parties

The Super Seven runs from August 3-6 with Twisted Spirits at Chances, Pip N' Ting at Wavz, Yush and Spirits at Chances, Extreme Wet 'N' Wild at Kool Runnings Water Park, the Appleton Live concert at Wavz, Rhythm and Booze at Chances and Juicy Wet Grooves at Chances.

With the curtain down on formalities, it was back to partying, and the Coppershot selectors took over the party again. They partied to dancehall hits until 2:00 a.m. before slowly making their way out of Mas Camp.

The season pass for all Appleton parties on that weekend goes for $7,500.