<\/p>\n
For Soca Camp curator Matthew \u2018Matt Camps\u2019 Campbell, a personal passion rooted in music has grown into a Carnival in Jamaica calendar event. On Friday, that vision came to life in full force, as revellers turned out for the 2026 staging of the event at Park Place in New Kingston.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a DJ first, so Soca Camp really started from the music,\u201d Campbell shared. \u201cThe name came from my annual soca mixtape series that began in 2017. After the pandemic, I felt like the time was right to bring it to life and create something for the fan base that has been supporting me over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evolution from mixtape to full-scale event has been intentional, with each staging building on the last. This year, the Smirnoff-sponsored event leaned further into its immersive identity, introducing an army f\u00eate theme that transformed the space into a high-energy command centre. Branded camo rags, custom cups, a dedicated merch stall, and an upgraded stage design elevated the experience. At the same time, the addition of Trinidadian Moko Jumbie performer Charlo Alphonso brought an unmistakable touch of authentic carnival spectacle. <\/p>\n
Still, at its core, Soca Camp remains grounded in what Campbell believes matters most. \u201cIt\u2019s a soca lovers\u2019 paradise,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you come here, you\u2019re getting everything. The hits, the new music, even the songs that might get overlooked elsewhere.\u201d That music-first approach continues to define the brand. <\/p>\n
For Campbell, if the music delivers, everything else follows. \u201cOnce the music is at the standard we\u2019ve set, then we know the experience is great. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve built our reputation on, and it\u2019s not easy to replicate.\u201d<\/p>\n
As revellers gear up for the road, Campbell is already tuned in to the tracks shaping the season, highlighting Cyah Behave <\/b>by Voice, Still a Road Man<\/b> by Bunji Garlin, Bury All<\/b> by Lil Kerry, and Doux Doux Darlin <\/b>by Christo as must-know anthems for the road, all of which feature on his Soca Camp mixtape series.<\/p>\n
Beyond the energy and execution, Campbell sees Soca Camp as part of a wider cultural contribution to the Carnival in Jamaica landscape.<\/p>\n
\u201cSoca Camp is a soca party at its core, and that\u2019s something you don\u2019t always get locally,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe\u2019ve taken the time to build an experience that feels authentic to carnival, similar to Trinidad, but still infused with our own Jamaican flavour.\u201d<\/p>\n
entertainment@gleanerjm.com<\/i> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source jamaica-gleaner.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For Soca Camp curator Matthew \u2018Matt Camps\u2019 Campbell, a personal passion rooted in music has grown into a Carnival in Jamaica calendar event. On Friday, that vision came to life in full force, as revellers turned out for the 2026 staging of the event at Park Place in New Kingston. \u201cI\u2019m a DJ first, so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2362005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2362004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Soca-Camp-prepares-revellers-for-the-road-Entertainment.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2362004"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2362006,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362004\/revisions\/2362006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2362005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2362004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2362004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2362004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}