The Best of Parties 2008
Given the anxieties and genuine hardships of 2008, it’s a relief to finally tally up the year and find what was worthy of celebration. Hence the 2008 BEST OF EDGE: PARTIES Awards list-in which the best parties of 2008 are honored, not only for taking our minds off the hiccups of the real world, but for reminding us that all work and no play makes the world a nasty place. For, as Barbara Ehrenreich reminds us, it is when we come together to play that we find "collective joy"-and subconsciously honor all the good times and good peoples who have come before us. And now, without further ado, the winners of this year’s best parties.
Toybox
2 March 2008
Sydney Mardi Gras, Sydney, Australia
Because Toybox is a word spoken like Oz, a place where dreams come true-in the middle of Sydney Mardi Gras-an afternoon party that feels like everyone has arrived happy on the home planet. With deejays from around the world, a splendid setting, glorious sunshine, fairground rides, thousands of smiley people, laser and light shows, arms in the air, ice pops and lollipops, frozen face towels, and confetti cannons shooting something like two tons of confetti into the air, Toybox @ Luna Park more or less defines transcendent collective ecstasy.
http://www.toyboxparty.com.au
One Mighty Party
7 June 2008
One Mighty Weekend
Hollywood Studios, Orlando, FL
Because no matter how jaded you think you’ve become, One Mighty Party at Hollywood Studios in Orlando’s Disney World returns you to that state of childlike awe and wonder with its kaleidoscopic visceral thrills spread across a setting as immaculate and surreal as it is jaw-dropping. To find yourself at One Mighty Party is to find yourself dropped into Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat, only to emerge into Fantasia. With amusement park rides, entertainers and performers, VIP lounges, lights and lasers, and a fireworks display to rival Macy’s on the Fourth, Johnny Chisholm’s One Mighty Party insures that every circuit boy and girl keeps dancing all night long-and smiling throughout the year.
http://www.onemightyweekend.com
Circuit Festival
4-11 August 2008
Barcelona, Spain
Because in only a few years, Circuit Festival/Barcelona has established a circuit beachhead in Europe, providing the Continent with a weeklong series of thirteen eye-popping parties filled with over 30,000 international travelers and libidinous Europeans-and because it happens the first week of August in Europe when nearly every Euroboy is on vacation-and perhaps, most of all, because it happens on the Mediterranean, in Barcelona, one of the world’s most beautiful and cosmopolitan cities.
http://www.circuitfestival.net
One Mighty Weekend
5-8 June 2008
Orlando, FL
Because One Mighty Weekend happens the first weekend in June at the beginning of Pride Month, in Orlando, where it’s hot and steamy, and where the south Florida boys treat the weekend as their Pride celebration-and perhaps most of all because Johnny Chisholm and his people are consummate professionals and total perfectionists, working together as smoothly as a Disney ride to insure that the thousands of revelers from around the world are treated to four days of legendary parties and magical spectacles.
http://www.onemightyweekend.com
Winter Party Beach Party
4 March 2008
Miami Beach, FL
Because there are few settings as breathtakingly beautiful as Miami Beach in March when the beach is home to more than 10,000 global snowbirds, all gathered together on a Sunday afternoon, dancing on a flamingo pink dance floor beneath a paradisiacal stage set as the cruise liners slip across the horizon-and because the Winter Party is a non-profit event with all proceeds benefitting the LGBT community on the national, state and local levels-and because the myriad Winter Party volunteers serve as an exemplar of how we are all better served when we all work together-and because this is the template for all other beach parties.
http://www.winterparty.com
White Party Palm Springs
19 April 2008
Palm Springs, CA
Because Jeffrey Sanker always promises pool parties parked with the hottest collection of men you will ever find, and eye candy galore, Andrew Christian swimwear fashion shows and Dirty Sexy Money’s Candis Cayne was only icing on the cake.
DJ Tracy Young delivered fierce beats that turned Saturday’s pool party into a wet-and-wild dancefloor. There’s no surprise that Palm Springs is the ultimate Spring Break destination to grab some rays poolside and groove to the sounds of the hottest DJs.
http://www.jeffreysanker.com
Salvation Sundays
Score, Miami Beach, FL
Because, as is the case with so many other great clubs, the once glorious Salvation is now an Office Depot, and so the recently-transformed Score stepped up to the plate with producer Hilton Wolman and created a once-monthly event evoking the best of Salvation. With DJ Abel stirring up a chunky melange of classics and just-released tracks, and performances by Power Infiniti and Kitty Meow, and a dance floor packed with the kind of hotties that continually wash ashore on South Beach, all partying in one of the most professional and pleasant clubs on the Beach, Salvation Sundays highlights the beats of the past while living firmly in the moment. With a recipe like that, it’s small wonder that Salvation Sundays has now become the once-monthly Salvation SATURDAYS!
http://www.hiltonwolman.com
FRESH
Ruby Sky, San Francisco, CA
Because for over seven years, this monthly tea dance has consistently delivered, earning rave reviews from its devoted audience of local and international revelers who can’t get enough of the opulent, spacious club, Ruby Skye. And because nearly every DJ worth his or her salt loves to play there-and finally because FRESH has made good on its altruistic philosophy, giving back nearly $90K to local community organizations. Bottom line? FRESH is still irresistibly FRESH and ferocious.
www.freshsf.com
Pride Pier Dance
29 June 2008
Pride Pier Dance, New York
Because it’s Pride-and it’s New York Fucking City in the heat of the summer with more than 10,000 proud and loud dancing fools from all over the globe crammed onto one pier jutting out over the Hudson River as a regatta of rainbow-flagged sailboats glide by and the fireboats shoot rainbow water sprays as Joe Gauthreaux and Tracy Young work the crowd into a frenzy before J.Hud appears just after sunset and the crowd goes berserk as she sings a set of her signature songs, ending just as the fireworks explode over Manhattan where the Empire State Building is glowing lavender-and you need more reason than that?
http://www.nycpride.org
Ric Sena
New York, NY
Because on the slippery slope of New York nightlife, Ric Sena kept his balance-and his momentum-shepherding his eight-year-old Alegria into a new chapter, not only at Webster Hall, but also for a one-night-only event at the original home of Alegria, the club once known as Sound Factory, now Pacha. With an ear to his loyal and ever-faithful crowd, Sena fine-tunes every production, insuring that his guests are treated to exemplary shows, including often-unannounced appearances by recording stars and performers. Artistically, Sena’s Alegria parties are unsurpassed, with decor and detail that encompass the night’s theme. With a background in theatrical production, Sena understands that every long-running show needs to evolve-and now that Alegria has made its mark in New York and Brazil, south Florida is poised to become Sena’s next, new Alegria playground.
http://www.alegriaevents.com
BBCM Montreal
Montreal, Canada
Because for the past eighteen years, ever since 1992, BBCM (Bad Boy Club Montreal) has been a volunteer-based non-profit organization that has given over $1.2 million to groups providing care to people living with HIV/AIDS, and because the economic and tourism spin-off generated from BBCM events is calculated at more than $450 million, and because this primarily volunteer organization has assiduously produced some of the most phenomenal parties in the world, including Red, Hot & Dry, Twist, Bal des Boys-and eighteen editions of the legendary Black & Blue.
http://www.bbcm.org
Maya
Because with Offer Nissim as her producer, Maya turns out hits -- such as "Happy People" -- roughly the equivalent of what Motown did for countless singers (and particularly Diana Ross) during the heyday of girl groups. With hooks and melodic overlays and dramatic build-ups, Maya’s material proves irresistible on the dance floor-and equally so to the countless remixers who layer her cooing, kittenish voice atop propulsive beats. Face it, she’s a Siren!
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=61174314
Automatic (Lauren Kidd - Peter Rauhofer Mix)
Because it has been one of the biggest global hits of the year, Laura Kidd "Automatic" has become a dancefloor staple. Charted by DJ’s across the globe and supported everywhere from Pete Tong’s Essential Mix to Radio 538’s Dance Department, Star69 turned us out with remixes from Peter Rauhofer, Martin Van Telden, Boris, DJ Paulo, Gabriel Robella, and more...
www.star69records.com
www.peterrauhofer.com
Holly
Because she shows up everywhere-and everywhere she shows up, she creates a show with her suitcase of personalities, and because each and every one of her alter egos is as carefully considered as a Cindy Sherman self-portrait, complete with precise and impeccable detail-and because, regardless of which character she is channeling, she lives to make all those around her have as much fun as she’s always having.
Boxers or Briefs Underwear Party
18 April 2008
Palm Springs, CA
Because we always wanted to show off that pair of sexy boxers and tighty whities, we can thank Jeffrey Sanker for making it much easier to let it all hang out. In 2008, the White Party Spring Break kicked off Friday night with an evening of skin and sin in Palm Springs, and there was no shortage of skin.
Jeffrey Sanker has always been one to take chances and make sure each year is fresh, new, and exciting. In 2007, rather than going with a traditional DJ lineup, Sanker earned much praise for inviting up-and-coming DJs from across the globe to submit their demo tapes for the chance to headline a main pool party last year. This year, he encouraged the boys to pack one less T-shirt and one less pair of shorts; rather, he enticed us to select our favorite, most sexy pair of underwear and rock out -- let it all hang out. Not a bad proposition, huh? Judging by the sheer numbers, the boys most certainly turned out, and turned it out. By midnight, the Wyndham Ballroom was slammed with skin, skin, some more skin, and bright, bulging neon underwear.
2009 promises a second-edition of the Underwear Party, sponsored by Aussiebum, and should not be missed!
http://www.jeffreysanker.com
