Barbados soca artiste Alison Hinds wowed the crowd on Saturday in a surprise appearance on the first night of Utopia Weekend at the Speyside Recreation Ground, Tobago.

Utopia Weekend, hosted by Opulence Promotions, was billed as a hybrid event that featured two nights of jazz, soca, reggae, art, food and fashion.

The final night featuring soca artiste Patrice Roberts, Freetown Collective, Annalie Prime, Adana Roberts and the Katzenjammers Steel Orchestra, was held on Sunday at the Buccoo Heritage Park.

Hinds, 52, was not originally scheduled to perform in Speyside but was asked to do so by Eddie Charles, frontman for the A-Team Band, during its set, which featured a lengthy tribute to late soca artiste Dexter “Blaxx” Stewart.

Hinds, who was vacationing on the island, whipped music lovers into a frenzy with several of her mega hits including Faluma, Roll It Gal, Born Wit It and others.

[caption id="attachment_960601" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Jamaican dancehall artiste Baby Cham performs for thousands of spectators at Utopia Weekend on Saturday. - David Reid[/caption]

Several people in the audience commented on her high-energy performance and how youthful she looked.

“You know how long I eh hear bout Alison Hinds, boy,” one woman said. “But she still have it.”

The A-Team band, as was expected, delivered its usual lively performance in tribute to Blaxx. The band also played video recordings of the late entertainer in which he talked about his love for God and urged people to pray.

In response, the band said it would honour Blaxx’s message by using his songs to “pour some blessings” on the audience.

The show attracted a large crowd, some of whom did not wear face masks. It replaced the island's signature event – the Tobago Jazz Experience.

The event, which was originally scheduled to start at 4pm, began at 5.15pm with a performance from young artiste Anomaly. He was joined later by singer Prince Unique (Jeffrey Thomas).

Trinidad reggae singer Isasha (Brendan Young) and top Jamaican artistes Junior Kelly and Baby Cham (Damian Beckett), all delivered riveting performances. The show ended around 11.20pm.

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