visit Barbados for the West Indies-Australia Test series.

For two Barbadian companies are laying on a five-hour musical and sporting extravaganza.

The beach party -- billed "Sun, fun, Cricket `n' Calypso -- falls on April 3, a Test Match rest day.

Highlights include a barbecue luncheon, a two-hour open bar, and a guest appearance by one of the Caribbean's former cricketing giants, such as Sir Garfield Sobers.

There will also be performances by award-winning local bands, Kros Fyah and Red Plastic Bag, which sprung to prominence with hit song "Regga Regga''.

In addition, people will have the chance to try their hand at water sports.

Tickets for the party cost US$80 per person, and are available at travel agents from around the Island.

The event at Mullins Beach Bar on the west coast of Barbados is being organised by West Coast Pirates Ltd. and Kros Fyah Entertainment.

Company representatives have flown to Bermuda to promote the venture, and yesterday they held a Press conference at Grotto Bay Beach Hotel.

Managing director of West Coast Pirates Mr. Malcolm Jones pointed out the calypso party was being put on exclusively for the 4,000 Bermudians expected to flock to Barbados in late March.

Manager of Kros Fyah Mr. Phil Phillips said the event was the band's most recent cultural tourism venture.

He added the band, with Red Plastic Bag, would recreate the joyful atmosphere of Barbados' "Crop Over'' festival, one of the leading carnivals in the Caribbean.

Consultant to West Coast Pirates Mr. Mike Phillips said organisers wanted to capitalise on the recent trip to Bermuda of Sir Garfield, widely acclaimed as the greatest cricketer of all time.

He hoped the visit had whipped up enthusiasm about Caribbean cricket.

Mr. Phillips said Barbadians and Bermudians got on extremely well, and enjoyed partying.

He suggested beach parties could become a permanent feature, if enough interest was shown.

"The being organised next month is really a pilot project.'' Mr. Phillips said there were also hopes about laying on Bermuda-Barbados charter flights.

"We will be meeting all the travel agents about this.'' UK VISITORS LOVE BERMUDA TOU UK visitors love Bermuda Bermuda's popularity in the United Kingdom has soared, according to response to an advertisement which ran in one of the nation's leading Sunday newspapers.

Nearly 60,000 Mail readers responded to the two-page advertisement which included a competition.

Staff at the newspaper, where a 30,000 response is considered exceptional, were reported to have been astonished by reaction to the advertisement.

And Tourism Minister the Hon. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge said he was delighted by the advertisement's success, which formed part of an "intensive'', full- colour UK advertising campaign.

"It is incredible that one advert for Bermuda can generate a response equivalent to the size of the Island's population,'' Mr. Woolridge said.

"This shows the enormous appeal that Bermuda, as depicted by our advertisements, has in the UK.

"From a marketing perspective, gaining responses from an audience of this size is a sound endorsement of our targeting.'' The number of UK visitors who came to Bermuda last year reached an all-time high of more than 27,000.

And early indications for this year indicate that that trend will continue, with January showing an 18 percent increase in UK arrivals over the same period last year.