TORONTO Stella Artois Légére hosted a block party for 860 guests in a King Street West parking lot on Saturday night. The party ended a two-month-long marketing promotion, where reps passed out samples of Stella Artois Légére in various neighbourhoods, encouraging people to vote for their favourite neighbourhood on the brand’s Facebook page. More than 800 people voted, and the winning neighbourhood—King Street West—won the block party.   “When the block party idea was created, it was rooted in local pride. We decided that Twitter and Facebook were the way to go,” said Jil Eisnor, senior account manager at Mosaic Experiential Marketing, who helped plan the event. Word about the event was spread through social media. To be added to the guest list, anyone could tweet or Facebook message Stella Artois Légére.

The idea behind the block party was to highlight the King West neighbourhood. “We wanted to bring in what you see when you walk down King West,” Eisnor said. “That’s what this is about.” Astroturf covered part of the lot to represent the neighbourhood’s many parks. A TTC bus bordered one edge of the party, and DJ Tom Wrecks spun from the top of a fire truck; both vehicles are a common sight on the street. Guests could enjoy fries and poutine from a chip wagon and soft-serve from an ALB Softy ice cream truck.  

The event featured four experiences designed to show off guests’ neighbourhood pride. Guests could make their own pins with slogans like “I Love T.O.” or “I Love King West” at a button-making station, win a T-shirt by answering Toronto trivia questions, have their picture taken in a photo booth, and receive coupons for local King West businesses from a vending machine.  

The outdoor party started at 8 and ended at midnight. Each guest received one free drink ticket and could purchase Stella or Smartwater from the glowing bar in the centre of the lot. Westbury projected the Stella Artois logo onto a neighbouring building.