Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project

Alcohol brings people together. Not as a rule, and ‘please drink responsibly’ and all that, but the right beverage has been known to unite a group of people, or tempt a shy pair of lips towards another. Smirnoff upped this ante. This weekend, it brought the world together.

The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project allows millions of people from 50 countries to share online their most original nightlife experiences, culminating in huge parties which take place all over the world on the same night. Inspired by one of the world’s most vibrant party cultures, last night Smirnoff brought the Jamaica jives to London.

Decked out in green, yellow and black, Alexandra Palace was transformed into the Caribbean island in a wave of decoration, food and music, and by cramming enough people into one room to generate tropical heat – a welcome contrast to the icy November air and the ice-skating arena usually associated with Ally Pally.

On arrival we were kitted out with neck tags, which when swiped on designated areas would connect us to Facebook. My general policy is never to refuse a freebie, but I returned home later that night to several unintentional status updates along the lines of ‘Having a great time at the Smirnoff Exchange’ and a tagged picture of myself contentedly holding a Jamaican Sunrise cocktail. Well, it was very nice. But that wasn’t for my Facebook friends to know.

Having elbowed my way through the throng of Facebook fiends (not friends) and clipboard brandishers angling for more of my contact details, I made it through to the Kingston Street Party – the central room complete with palm trees, bars, carnival dancers and the main stage graced by acts such as Ms. Dynamite and Basement Jaxx.

My interest had disregarded Ms. Dynamit-ee-ee somewhere back in the mid-Noughties, but the crowd seemed to like her, and with her Scottish-Jamaican parentage I could see why she was there. I remain less convinced that Basement Jaxx were the most thematic choice of headliner, but they do make for a great party.

The additional room – called the Sombrero Club – also confused me. Is a sombrero not a Mexican wide-brimmed hat? Yes, but as I later discovered, it is also the name of an original Jamaican dance hall; either way, it was almost impossible to find and was all too reminiscent of the disco on a family camp site: bad music, low turnout and uncomfortable-looking people.

The Sombrero Club was easily avoidable though, as was the Create Your Own Cocktail stall due to its endlessly long queue – but as you will know from my automatically tagged Facebook photo, I was perfectly content with my Jamaican Sunrise cocktail, Blue Peter style (that is, ‘here’s one we made earlier’).

Those willing to part with even more cash than the £25 cost of a ticket did well at the market stalls selling jerk pork and corn cobs with coriander, and at the various bars with their range of Smirnoff-saturated beach cocktails. Free pleasures, on the other hand, included celeb spottings of boxer Audley Harrison and TOWIE cast members Sam and Billie Faiers, the toilets signposted ‘mon’ and ‘womon’, and the lady giving out free sunglasses inside a very dark room.

With the vibrant colours of Jamaica and the flowing stream of Smirnoff, I defied anyone to leave without a shimmy and a smile. The party really was – as the best bar there was named – Jam Inn.

The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project took place on Saturday 12 November at Alexandra Palace.

For more information on Smirnoff and upcoming events, join the Smirnoff Facebook Page.