The 'Sprint To Paradise' Is On

With less than a month until what is being touted as one of the biggest music festivals to hit Jamaica, fans have already began gearing up to secure tickets for Paradise Lost.

The EDM festival is slated to take place on March 10-12 at Grizzly's Plantation Cove in St Ann.

The three-day event is expected to pull over 15,000 spring breakers to the island. Local fans, however, are not to be left out as Sprint Financial Services, a micro business and peer-to-peer lender, will be offering loans to facilitate those who aren't able to foot the bill.

Sprint Financial's CEO Christopher Barrett told The Sunday Gleaner that they were approached by the promoters.

"International fans of the event are coming in, but the promoters also wanted to tap into the local potential patron market. We are happy to be on board for this event in providing recreational loans to patrons," Barrett said.

Additionally, the first two patrons who sign up for a 'Sprint to Paradise' loan will each receive two VIP tickets to the event.

OFFSETTING COSTS

Loans being offered for the festival will be able to offset transportation, hotel accommodation and ticket costs. Sprint Financial is also offering a two per cent reduction in the interest rate. There will also be a 15 per cent reduction on VIP tickets for persons who acquire 'Sprint To Paradise' loans.

"We are hoping to double what we did for Dream Weekend (which saw $2.5M in loans being disbursed), so our expectation is at least eight to ten million in loans. This festival will be a yearly event and Sprint hopes to partner with them every year," Barrett said.

He added, "Sprint has weathered the storms of critics and naysayers who have dished out negative and harsh comments for individuals who have obtained loans for parties, even though the loans are aimed at event-type excursions. The desire for these facilities double every year, so clearly, there is a market for it. In fact, I would say that these facilities are even more responsible in providing loans in that the repayment period takes only six to 12 months, thus resulting in less total paid interest by the end of the loan. Compare this to credit cards, which some individuals take up to four years to pay off and, by that time, you would have paid up to four times as much as your initial principal borrowed."

In addition to the loans being offered by Sprint, fans can also win tickets to the event through a sprint off.

"Seven individuals will have the opportunity to go head to head in a race against an up-and-coming sprinter. These individuals will be chosen via our social media platforms as soon as the details become available next week. The winner will walk way with two VIP tickets and the second-place winner will walk away with one VIP ticket," said Mark Tracey, chief financial officer and risk manager of Paradise Lost.

entertainment@gleanerjm.com