
Flygirl has a few firsts on Pride weekend.
Posted by Mandy Randhawa on August 8, 2011
No matter how many parties we throw, how many possibilities we plan for, there are always a few firsts at each event that keep things exciting. Some of the firsts from this past Pride weekend included a woman spontaneously – and successfully – crowd surfing during Kytami’s set, a VJ spinning wicked live visuals at the Sweet Friday kick off party, and Flygirl trying out the Queen E Plaza as a new venue for Chicas.
Just like crowd surfing relies on someone to take a leap of faith and then the participation of many to make it work, so do our events. We put in eleven months of preparation to organize a stellar Pride weekend, on top of that there are all the vendors, suppliers and performers that are integral to each event, and then, most importantly, there is you. Without the feisty, playful energy of everyone attending, all we’d have would be beautiful venues with great music. It’s all of you that make the real magic happen.
When we look back on this past Pride, we first of all want to send each of you a huge and heartfelt thank you for making each of our four events as sexy and memorable and fun-filled as ever. From the intimate, packed and literally sweaty Sweet Friday kick off, to the rained on, but nonetheless fiery, Chicks A-Hoy boat cruise, to the prestigious Queen E venue for Chicas, and the circuit party splendour of Hershe Bar, thank you for coming out and making each event shine with your wild and wonderful contributions.
Now that we’ve caught up on some sleep, we’re already starting the preparations for next year, thinking about what worked well and where we want to innovate and improve.
Finding the right venues is a tough business. We seek out luscious spaces to create the sensual, decadent atmosphere that we’re known for. We also need venues that can fit the numbers that our events draw, and that are willing and available to host the kind of parties we create. We’re not quite big enough to bump a conference out of a place, but most of our events are too big for the venue spaces in the city.
This year we tried out a new boat for our boat cruise, and we were disappointed to find them not quite well enough equipped to handle our particular brand of nautical naughtiness. As well, we worked with the City of Vancouver to make Chicas the first ever dance party at the Queen Elizabeth Plaza. This wasn’t only revolutionary for the city, it was a new step for us too and it meant some extra work to design and decorate the venue space, working out each detail to get the look and feel right.
We’re still sorting through our notes on what we loved and where we’d like to take it to a new level next year. As part of that process, we’d love to know what you thought of this year’s events. If you attended any of our Pride events: Sweet Fridays, Chicks A-Hoy Boat Cruise, Chicas, or the Hershe Bar, please fill out our short survey so we can hear what you loved, and where you’d like us to make it even better.
To sweeten the pot, we’ll draw a name from everyone who responds to the survey by Thur Aug 11/11 for two tickets to “GIRLS ON FILM” on Fri Aug 12. Thanks again to you all for being so damn fine to celebrate with.