It was hard not to notice this year Toronto’s Pride seemed to have a lot more paid events than any other year. No, I’m not talking the Prism Festival events (http://www.prismtoronto.com) but the two hosted by the new party impresario Joesph Patrick and his Epic Weekend Splash Bash (http://www.epicweekend.ca). Now I’m a pretty jaded party guy. I’ve been to big circuit parties all over North America so when I got notice of a Foam Party in Dundas Square I had to go. So I did. Now, before you shriek, “there was a foam party in Dundas Square?!!!” Yes there was and as this was a new event so there was good and some things need to be tweaked.
The Splash Bash In Dundas Square
As I walked to Dundas Square it took me a actually 10-minutes to find my way in. In fact, I was lost with Sofonda who had to call Joseph to say, “um, how do I get in?’ Sofonda and I both laughed at that. Once you found your way in you were greeted by a woman at a desk who took my ticket and gave me a wrist band. The first thing I asked was, “is there a clothes check?” This ticket woman looked at me, screwing up her face, and huffed, “clothes check?! No there isn’t one here?” When I asked her what do I do with my bag and clothes she shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t know.” Translation: I don’t care.
The Splash Bash In Dundas Square
Once you were inside it was actually an interesting set up. The main stage was up front and the entire area was blocked off by a blue metal fence with see-through holes which was a little unnerving at first. As parade was turning two blocks up on Gerrard, curious on-lookers where gawking through the fence to see, as I heard one man say, “the strange men dancing in dish water.” At the end of the of the space, there standing 60 feet high was foam machine. This machine with four making devices cranked out enough foam to cover one area, which was closest to Yonge Street, and not the rest. When I heard about this party, I expected to be knee-deep in foam and not having to walk to one area to get my foam action. However, there was a lot of good to this event.
Toronto’s Pride party scene needed a little shaking up. Yes the Prism Events are good but they are the same events I was attending almost nine years go. Patrick brought an event, which got it starts in Europe back in the 90s, updated it for gay boys and took a huge risk by plopping it right in Dundas Square. So I’ll answer the question you most want to know, was it worth the ticket price? Well here’s my honest review, it brought a smile to my face and I witness people laughing and playing with each other, so I would say “yes”. However with a few caveats.
As this event is new I hope next year Patrick adds another foam machine and clothing check. I can’t tell you how dismayed a few people were about attending a foam event without a clothing check. The signage was lacking and it was hard to find you way in. Though, when people did get in they enjoyed posing in the for onlookers who were flashing their cameras way. I look at this way, how many people can say they got to play with hot boys and in foam on Pride Day? That alone made this event a conversation started for months. Oh and if you are wondering, the foam is not wet so you won’t go “slip, sliding, away” should you be rubbing against a hot boy while dancing. I can’t wait to see how this evolves in 2011.
