The closest most people come to experiencing a Caribbean festival is watching Carnival Cruise line commercials on TV. Maybe a few make it to Mardi Gras, but a trip to New Orleans won’t be necessary this Saturday, as Students of Caribbean Ancestry (SOCA) is set to turn Stevenson into a Caribbean dance festival.
"If you want a hot, sanctioned party for the weekend, this is the place to go," SOCA Treasurer senior Camille Newman said. "There will be good music from all over the Caribbean."
A group of students from diverse Caribbean backgrounds formed SOCA in 1997 to enhance the College community’s knowledge of a region that is sometimes seen as just a vacation spot. Through educational and social activities SOCA works to display the complex history and culture of Caribbean nations. This weekend’s festival, however, centers on just one piece of the island culture — Carnival. Carnival is held all over the Caribbean a few days before Lent, the period before Easter in which most Christian churches require that people give up an activity or fast for 40 days commemorating the fast of Jesus Christ.
"We couldn’t bear the financial burden of an actual Carnival, so we wanted to bring something lesser, but still a place in which we could participate in feteing, in which is what we do at Carnival," Newman says. Feteing, a common Caribbean word, literally means to “jump Mass” and participate in Carnival’s activities such as dance, music and costuming.
Last December, SOCA held a similar event in the Spanish House Maze attracting over 400 people.
"It was hot, but people were excited and having fun," Newman said. Last year’s huge crowd required a move to the larger Stevenson venue for Saturday. In addition, this festival will feature a professional DJ who will be playing sounds from all over the Caribbean—hip-hop, reggae, dancehall – SOCA volunteers will chip in extra tunes of their own including calypso, merengue and salsa.
This year’s festival aspires to provide OC with more than great dance music. Bashment is a Jamaican word synonymous with fete conotating, "come as you are." Newman, a native of Jamaica, says a bashment is thrown to celebrate events such as welcoming someone home, a wedding or even a soccer game.
"In a matter of hours, people organize it in the streets, put speakers out, and there is loud music, Red Stripe beer and dancing," Newman said. "It is to promote community and raise spirit. Oberlin is lacking school spirit and I hope this bashment will do the same for Oberlin, by serving as an icebreaker."
President of SOCA, senior Dwayne Brice, expressed similar sentiments. "The purpose of the day is to celebrate Oberlin College and get a taste of what SOCA has to offer," he said.
SOCA also plans to have door prizes and hold several dance contests, including another Jamaican Whyne contest which many attendees participated in last year.
"The Whyne contest is for anyone who thinks that they can shake their stuff the best," Brice said.
Saturday’s Bashment should attract anyone looking to relax and unwind to the infectious beats and pulsating rhythms of the Caribbean.
"The atmosphere was great last year," said junior Polly Berroa, who worked the entrance door the past festival and plans on doing it again this weekend. "The SOCA party is a great opportunity to come out and dance to some great music."

SOCA’s Fall Bashment will be held in Stevenson on Saturday from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tickets are $3 OCID and $5 non-OCID. There will be Alkie/Non-Alkie drinks served.