SOS Fest Toronto 2015: Machel Montano, Kes & Soca at Wild Water Kingdom
On Saturday, May 30, 2015, Toronto’s Soca crowd headed to Wild Water Kingdom for an outdoor daytime festival built around live bands, Caribbean music and the unofficial start of summer.
SOS Fest — the Summer of Soca Festival brought together a heavy 2015 lineup led by Machel Montano and his entire band, with Kes The Band, Ravi B & Karma, Kerwin Du Bois, Angela Hunte, Farmer Nappy, Skinny Fabulous and Logun also advertised for the day.
For the original Julianspromos coverage, Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs served as on-camera host, while Julian C. Hackett shot and edited the footage.
Summer of Soca Takes Over Wild Water Kingdom
The flyer called it a “Daytime Beach Fete,” and the setting made that description fit.
Wild Water Kingdom gave SOS Fest something different from a typical indoor concert.
This was an outdoor summer event.
Big stage.
Live bands.
Caribbean food and culture.
A family-friendly daytime crowd.
And enough Soca talent on one bill to carry the day from afternoon into evening.
The venue sat at 7855 Finch Avenue West in Brampton, just outside Toronto, and was already known as a major outdoor entertainment and water-park destination.
Machel Montano Brings the Full Band
The biggest name on the flyer was Machel Montano.
And this was not promoted as a stripped-down appearance.
The event specifically advertised Machel Montano and the entire band.
His own official event archive still lists the May 30, 2015 appearance at Wild Water Kingdom, confirming SOS Fest as part of his 2015 touring schedule.
That gave the festival a major live-performance centerpiece.
By 2015, Machel’s stage show was already built for large festival crowds, and Wild Water Kingdom gave Toronto another chance to experience that Carnival-season energy outside Trinidad.
Kes The Band Keeps the Live Soca Flowing
Kes The Band added another full-band dimension to the lineup.
With Machel and Kes both appearing, SOS Fest was not simply a day of DJs playing Carnival records.
The event was built around live Soca.
That distinction matters.
The crowd was not just hearing the music.
They were getting complete stage performances from some of the genre’s biggest touring acts.
Ravi B & Karma Bring Chutney Soca Into the Mix
Ravi B & Karma added another side of Trinidad and Tobago’s music culture.
Their presence gave SOS Fest a stronger Chutney Soca element alongside the Groovy and Power Soca coming from the rest of the lineup.
That mix helped the festival feel broader than one style of Soca.
Kerwin Du Bois, Farmer Nappy & Skinny Fabulous
The lineup kept getting deeper.
Kerwin Du Bois brought one of the most recognizable voices of the period.
Farmer Nappy represented another generation of Trinidad Soca.
And Skinny Fabulous brought St. Vincent into the mix.
Together, they made the artist list feel more like a regional Soca showcase than a single-headliner concert.
Angela Hunte & Logun Round Out the Bill
Angela Hunte and Logun were also advertised.
Angela Hunte brought her own international background into the event, while Logun added another Caribbean voice to the day.
The lineup stretched across several islands, styles and generations while still staying firmly rooted in Soca.
T-Rexxx Hosts the Festival
The event itself was hosted by T-Rexxx.
That is separate from the Julianspromos media role.
For Julianspromos, Chandy handled the on-camera hosting of the coverage.
That gave the archive two distinct perspectives:
T-Rexxx keeping the live festival moving from the stage.
Chandy bringing viewers into the event for Julianspromos.
Watch SOS Fest Toronto 2015
The original Julianspromos highlights bring viewers inside Wild Water Kingdom for performances, crowd moments and the atmosphere around the 2015 Summer of Soca Festival.
Event Date: May 30, 2015
Video Upload Date: June 6, 2015
Julianspromos Host: Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs
Camera: Julian C. Hackett
Edited by: Julian C. Hackett
SOS Fest Toronto 2015 Photo Gallery
The Julianspromos gallery adds another look at the day, including Chandy on location and the festival atmosphere surrounding the coverage.
An Early Chapter in a Long-Running Festival
Looking back, the 2015 edition carries more weight because SOS Fest did not disappear after one summer.
The event returned to Wild Water Kingdom in 2016, when organizers expanded the concept into both Summer of Soca Festival and Summer of Reggae Festival.
By 2024, SOS Fest officially promoted “Year X” — its 10-year anniversary, showing how far the festival had grown from those early Wild Water Kingdom editions.
The brand later evolved into a multi-day Toronto Carnival Weekend festival with events such as Colours, Carnival Kingdom, Revivor and Legends.
So the 2015 footage now does more than show one summer concert.
It captures SOS Fest near the beginning of a much longer Toronto story.
From the Julianspromos Archives
SOS Fest came during one of the busiest stretches in Julianspromos history.
By spring 2015, the cameras had already been moving between several Caribbean and North American markets.
Jamaica Carnival had been documented in April.
Then came first-time coverage in St. Maarten.
Then Cayman.
Then The Bahamas.
And by the end of May, the team was back in Canada for SOS Fest.
Toronto itself was not new territory for Julianspromos by this point, but 2015 showed how much broader the company’s coverage had become.
The archive was no longer centered only around Carnival parades or artist interviews.
It now included destination Carnivals, outdoor concerts, fetes and emerging festival brands across multiple countries.
For SOS Fest, Chandy handled the on-camera hosting, while Julian C. Hackett shot and edited the event.
That combination put Julianspromos inside another important moment in Toronto’s Caribbean entertainment scene — this time at a festival that would continue growing for years afterward.
Event Details
Event: SOS Fest — Summer of Soca Festival
Date: Saturday, May 30, 2015
Venue: Wild Water Kingdom
Address: 7855 Finch Avenue West, Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Format: Daytime Beach Fete / Summer of Soca Festival
Doors: 1:00 PM
Performances: From 4:00 PM
Event Host: T-Rexxx
Advertised Artists: Machel Montano & full band, Ravi B & Karma, Kes The Band, Kerwin Du Bois, Angela Hunte, Farmer Nappy, Skinny Fabulous & Logun
Julianspromos Host: Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs
Camera: Julian C. Hackett
Editor: Julian C. Hackett
