Plantation Cove pressing on

It has been more than two months since Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica. While Plantation Cove, which hugs the north coast of St Ann, was impacted by the hurricane, it luckily did not sustain major destruction from the Category Five storm. Damage was evident, but the operators have been able to restore the venue in a short time.

As Vonni Koromanti Meikle explained, they were not spared Melissa’s wrath, but repair work was done quickly as they knew they could not afford to be down for long with all that they had scheduled to take place. “We are good and are not complaining. That’s not to say damage didn’t occur, but we got ahead of it. In terms of electricity, we are still waiting on JPS (Jamaica Public Service) to come do their re-wiring, because a lot of poles are still down. However, as a full-service event venue, we do a lot of things with generators, so we were prepared. So electricity is our biggest challenge right now, but we still have an exciting and full calendar.”

While the anticipated year-end Reggae Fest: The Return of Mavado was postponed, and the customary January events, Intimate and Rebel Salute, will not take place, Koromanti Meikle pointed to parties, plus a bevvy of private corporate events and birthday celebrations, and more events on the way. “We just hosted Chillin & Brunching on the Lawn on January 1 with Shaneil Muir and company, and we have a whole calendar of events lined up for January, which is packed,” she said.

Koromanti Meikle shared that getting the venue up and operational required a lot of work, but they knew they owed it to their clients to make it as seamless as possible. “Our damage was both structural and horticultural. We have a clubhouse near the ocean, and that was damaged; plus the gardens, where trees were blown down; and we had to work on the lawns, as we have over 100 acres of lawn, so it was a lot,” she shared.

Plantation Cove was established over 40 years ago, with its transformation into an event venue occurring in the early 2000s. Among their most popular events for 2025 were Best Weekend Ever, We Vacae, and Intimate, as these shows pulled in crowds of over 35,000 patrons each. The most memorable events for 2025 would include its Coverside Concerts series, which saw Dionne Warwick hit the stage for Timeless in March 2025.

Koromanti Meikle, who is the property’s corporate affairs manager, also emphasised that Plantation Cove is instrumental in assisting the creative community through a series called ‘Conu’co Market at the Cove, where over 100 creative practitioners can showcase their products and services, usually once a quarter, with the intent of making small creative businesses more resilient. The next one is scheduled for May 3, 2026.

“The creative industry is the whole nucleus of the economy, and many people do not realise this. They do not realise how many industries are fed from one event. Marketing, culinary, transportation, lighting, etc. Conu’co Market features a farmers’ market, fashion show, live band concert, and amazingly, we do this, and the entrance is completely free to attendees,” she said.

nicola.cunningham@gleanerjm.com