Vancouver Fetish Weekend: a nice place to get nautical
Though still in its infancy, Vancouver Fetish Weekend has emerged from an enthusiastic local scene where inclusivity is the byword. Add its beautiful location, wonderful weather and friendly attractive people and, well, what’s not to like? asks Ian Dutton
On the last weekend of July, pervs from across western Canada, the northwestern US and even farther afield converged on the spectacular city of Vancouver, British Columbia for the second annual Vancouver Fetish Weekend.
This booming city, where mountains come down to meet a lovely harbour with rich forests and comfortable climate, is also home to a vibrant and growing fetish community building around a core group of warm and welcoming — and easy on the eye — pervy players.
The king and queen of the Vancouver party scene are Isaac (aka DJ Pandemonium) and alt model and DJ Evilyn13. Besides producing the Vancouver Fetish Weekend, this couple also bring to life the monthly Sin City fetish events, now ten years running.
Both Isaac and Evilyn are very visible in both straight and gay club circuits. This leads their Fetish Weekend to feel dramatically more inclusive than other cities’ scenes where attitudes might be welcoming but in actuality don't have such a smooth blend of homo, hetero and all the flavours in between.
A key component of Vancouver's blossoming fetish scene is the local latex design label Deadly Couture. The retail shop of the same name features a wide range of latex fashions, serious play gear, goth and cyber clubwear, and burlesque and retro fashion, spread through two floors in the historic Gastown neighborhood.
As if owning and operating the internationally-known label and the shop weren't enough, the tattooed beauty behind Deadly Couture, Jenni Won Ton, is herself a fetish model and along with her partner Derek, isn’t too shy to enjoy some kinky fun while out on the town.
Surrounding these pillars of the fetish community is a core group of active kinky party people who of course can be found out at the local scene events in Vancouver and even in Seattle, a two-hour drive away on the US side of the border. Indeed, it's becoming more common to see this close-knit group making their presence felt farther away.
These Western Canadians are often identifiable as among the best-dressed and hardest-playing kinksters at major North American events such as Florida's Fetish Factory Anniversary Weekend or, on the opposite side of Canada, at the Montreal Fetish Weekend.
After years of growth of the local scene, the full-blown Vancouver Fetish Weekend came into being in 2013, and featured performances from fet-scene celebs Mosh and Perish and a catwalk from local label Hypershine Latex.
Building from the first year’s experiences, Isaac invited LA’s Boulet Brothers to be the second edition’s MCs, featured international fetish star Rubberdoll as the headline performer, and added an anything-goes evening Fetish Cruise limited to the all-weekend VIP pass holders.
Friday was an opportunity to explore Vancouver as so many tourists do: by bicycle. And being as ridiculous as we are, we opted for a tandem Friday was an opportunity to explore Vancouver a bit as so many tourists do: by renting a bicycle. And being as ridiculous as we are, my wife Shea and I opted for a tandem bike.
Besides circling famous Stanley Park on the wildly-popular Seawall, our highlight was a shopping excursion to Deadly Couture. We found Jenni and her assistants hard at work and the store as busy as could be expected with everyone making last-minute outfit plans for the big weekend.
Also to be found at the Deadly Couture shop were Canadian fetish superstar couple Lacy Black and Jordan Solaris from Edmonton. In town for the weekend from the far side of the Canadian Rockies, they would be producing the runway show for the Russian label Andromeda Latex on Saturday night.
The kick-off party on Friday July 25 was the Military and Uniform Fetish Ball held at the Imperial Theatre.
This is an attractive and historic venue featuring a high-ceilinged main room with a sizable performance stage and a more intimate secondary room with more DJs, plus play equipment spread throughout.
The Vancouver crowd, particularly the men, did a good job of interpreting the theme with many stepping it up with latex outfits. Performances through the night were evenly spaced with opportunities for dancing and socialising.
The Boulet Brothers, in matching latex catsuits, pink Marie Antoinette wigs and alien-zombie make-up, held the audience’s attention between an alluring diva-dance routine by Mantra, a police officer having the balance of power turned against him courtesy of Burgundy Brixx and The Purrfessor, and a sexually-charged testosterone-and- rubber interrogation scene with the guys from Rubbout.
Saturday 26 was another opportunity to explore the city and visit with local friends, at whose suggestion we took a water taxi to the Olympic Village. This neighbourhood served as the athlete’s village during the 2010 Winter Olympics, an event that has left an indelible mark on this glittering, modern city.
Before long it was time to prepare for the weekend's event: Saturday night's Fantasy Fetish Ball at Club 560.
Red carpet interviews hosted by Evilyn13 and a specially-decorated classic police car draped with fetish models greeted arriving guests. Inside, guests found a basement-level dungeon (and lush toilets to boot), a large main floor and a chill-out balcony space.
Red carpet interviews hosted by Evilyn13 and a specially decorated classic police car draped with fetish models greeted arriving guests Though not quite as swanky as the previous night’s theatre venue, Club 560 offered a variety of spaces and a video wall to create an immersive experience.
The Boulet Brothers were once again the evening’s ringmasters, tonight coiffed in towering platinum wigs and shimmering in matching one-leg, one-arm latex catsuits decorated with Rocky Horror-esque fanged lips. They ushered in a modern bellydance routine by the Luciterra quartet as well as another performance by Mantra.
There was an especially wild reaction to the night’s two catwalk shows from local superstar Deadly Couture and the spectacular fantasy range from Andromeda Latex (until recently known as Anatomic Latex).
Deadly’s line highlighted leopard prints in deliciously flattering cuts and brightly colored styles from traditional dresses to nearly-nothing designs for those unafraid to show some skin.
Andromeda is well known for catsuits and hoods that seem to inhabit the far corners of your imagination, either from a distant planet far in the future or the pages of a fantasy comic book, and the models on the runway brought the sexiest of those dreamlands to life.
Topping the night’s entertainment billing was international latex superstar Rubberdoll. This stunning beauty brought her high-energy, sexually adventurous show to Vancouver for the first time ever, and the screaming crowd couldn’t get enough.
Her ten-minute non-stop performance was an explosive blur of sparks, confetti and silly string, blinding lights, and of course sinful latex outfits stripped away piece by piece to show off the gorgeous girl inside.
Sunday 27 started with a lazy brunch and a bit more shopping — girls love heels and that’s certainly fine by me.
But today’s events were going to launch earlier than the previous days and no one would want to miss the boat — literally — for this evening’s feature event was the VIP Fetish Cruise, a first-ever, no-holds-barred, three-hour waterborne tour of Vancouver harbour.
Isaac explained the inspiration behind it: “We wanted to add something to the weekend that was highly social — more of a daytime event that would segue into the night-time parties and showcase the natural wonders of our beautiful city. So a fetish cruise made perfect sense!”
Plus there’s the kink-factor: “We get to write all our own rules for kinky conduct on the boat — which means anything goes!”
And so it was that Evilyn, our nautical hostess, welcomed guests aboard the friendly vessel whose captain, wearing a bunny suit with nipple clamps, waved from the bridge.
Our hostess welcomed us aboard the friendly vessel whose captain, wearing a bunny suit with nipple clamps, waved from the bridge
As partygoers emerged from taxis and nearby parking lots, the waterfront passers-by — mostly tourists — got many an eyeful of latex-wrapped or scantily-clad seafarers making their way down the pier.
After the last-second latecomers had made a dash for the departing clipper, Isaac grabbed a microphone to lay down the two rules: no unauthorised photography and no stains on the carpet. With that (and the official safety briefing), Vancouver's first-ever fetish cruise was underway.
As other vessels passed our mid-sized yacht on the harbour, more than one made a rapid U-turn to get a better look at the action aboard and were no doubt disappointed to find out that our cruise was unquestionably more interesting than theirs!
The success of Vancouver’s fetish cruise cannot be overstated, from the thrill of the fetish parade embarking, to the playful freedom surrounded by the beauty of Vancouver’s waterfront, to the charge of so many friendly and attractive fellow partygoers… even a supportive crew that seemed to enjoy the event as much as anyone.
Upon disembarking, most cruise guests boarded a bus to the Sunday night Wrap-up Party. This was not some bland motorcoach but a lavish limousine expanded to Greyhound size, complete with a stripper pole in the aft VIP area.
The party, in Vancouver's legendary Penthouse nightclub, featured lots of stage action but the atmosphere was unmistakably winding down.
Rubberdoll had the audience’s attention riveted as she tore up the stage with another naughty, fleshy show, while Spooksy DeLune brought her dark-styled bare-all burlesque art to life.
The unquestionable show-stealer, though, was Brent Ray Fraser as Officer Hardonsky, who was packing such a sizable weapon that it was not merely the crowd's eyes that bulged when the show's slow build-up revealed this cop’s tool of the trade.
Before long it was time for the Boulet Brothers to take the stage for a final time and bid adieu to the weekend revellers as goodbyes were sealed with hugs and kisses, squeezes and spankings.
Right up to the last minute it was clear that the operation all weekend had run perfectly smoothly, and for that, Isaac and his Vancouver team deserve congratulations.
The whole of the Vancouver Fetish Weekend, with its core crowd of warm, friendly locals proud to show off their city and their local scene, is clearly establishing itself as western North America's premier party weekend.
The sunny, comfortable summer weather in a city of such natural beauty is a wonderful setting for enjoyable parties that mix gay and straight without the subtle barriers found elsewhere.
And as word spreads of its success, there’s every reason to expect that this weekend will grow bigger every year.
The summer weather in a city of such natural beauty is a wonderful setting for parties that mix gay and straight without the usual barriers Thursday, 9 October 2014
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