French soca enthusiast finds carnival magic in Jamaica

Though the musical art form of soca originated in the Caribbean republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Idyll Mohamed Ali, who travelled from Paris, France, to Jamaica, said she is definitely a fan. It's one of the reasons that brought her and her best friends to the shores of the island.

Crossing the ocean, she told The Gleaner, “That’s why we came to Jamaica, for the carnival. The thing is we didn’t know how it works because we couldn’t find any information on the Internet. We have French websites so we don’t have much more information about it. So we figured we just needed to join. We knew we needed to buy some tickets or bracelets.”

Though unable to join in an official way, Ali and her friends have been walking along the outer boundaries all morning.

Sharing her experience she said, “It’s amazing, I think it’s a once time in a lifetime [experience]. We’ve been seeing it for a long time on social media and I always just dreamed to be apart of that experience. It’s been absolutely amazing so far.”

She continued, “The vibe is there. Seeing the people with the costumes, the music, the everything, is giving us the experience.”

The trio including Ali, Malaury Frank and Didy Lecourtois arrived two days ago and say they will be in the action later at the official after party.

shanel.lemmie@gleanerjm.com