BizBash | Events * Meetings * Marketing * Style * Strategy * Ideas

OTHER MARKETS

GOOGLE TRANSLATE

OUR TRADE SHOWS & EVENTS

JOBS

MOST POPULAR STORIES

1. 5 New Toronto Venues for Holiday Parties

2. Developer Hosts Green Cocktail Party, Mini Trade Show to Unveil Eco-Friendly Homes

3. OCAD Gala Kicks Off Mystery Art Sale

4. New Moon Premiere Beckons 10,000 People and 2 Live Wolves

5. Masked Raconteurs Tell Tales at Moth Ball, and I Have a Blast

6. How Do You Make Staffers Feel Appreciated—at Little or No Cost?

7. MoMA Gets Suitably Whimsical and Macabre for Tim Burton Tribute

FROM NEW YORK

Masked Raconteurs Tell Tales at Moth Ball, and I Have a Blast

Gap, Banana Republic, American Eagle Open Stores With Musical Performances

MoMA Gets Suitably Whimsical and Macabre for Tim Burton Tribute

3 New Hotel Restaurants for Business Entertaining, Private Groups

Nintendo Launches New Mario Game With Look Back at Franchise History

Scripted Models Play Up Key Notes at Victoria's Secret Fragrance Preview

Ad Age Looks to Boost Conference Interaction With Beer Tasting, Lounge Seating

More Photos From Louis Vuitton's Garden-Style Launch: Life-Sized Trees, Mounds of Mums

A Forest of Flora Marks Launch of Louis Vuitton's Saks Boutique

4 Made-in-New York Sweets for Gift Bags

FROM LOS ANGELES

Us Weekly Takes to Voyeur With Scantily Clad Models, Burlesque Feel

6 New Venues for Los Angeles Holiday Parties

New Moon Premiere Beckons 10,000 People and 2 Live Wolves

$4 Million MOCA Gala Breaks Fund-Raising Records

Chrysalis Benefit Cuts Ticket Prices in Half, Draws Same Crowd

MOCA Gala Spawning Arty Online Auction—Including Gehry's Hat for Gaga—Through November 30

Wende Museum Closes Wilshire for Cold War Anniversary Celebration

3 Ideas for Stylish, Eco-Friendly Events

3 New Restaurants for Autumn Alfresco Dining

With Help From Lexus, Cedars-Sinai Gala Breaks Fund-Raising Record

News Archive for Sandra Bernhard

EVENT REPORT 06.25.08 5:08 PM

Pandora's Box Inspires Entertainment at Grecian-Themed Pride Gala

Acrobats at the Pride gala
Photo: Gary Beechey for BizBash

For the fourth annual Pride Toronto gala and awards—held at the Fermenting Cellar on Tuesday—event planner Daniel Chimento of Dragos Productions used entertainment throughout the evening to convey the theme of the event: "A Journey to Mount Olympus."

"It's based around Pan and Pandora and the opening of Pandora's box and all of the mischief that comes with it," Chimento said. All of the performances, courtesy of Suspended Animation Circus, involved Greek gods and goddesses. "So Atlas is basically hanging from a hoop in the air. We have Prometheus starting a fire; Aphrodite is in there seducing and landing people in a trance," he said.

Chimento, who planned and produced the event for the first time this year, worked with Pride Toronto co-chairs Lenore MacAdam and Mark Singh. He looked to ancient Greece for the evening's inspiration in an effort to choose a theme that he felt hasn't been "overdone" in the city. "I really wanted to take it to the next level ... I absolutely love coming up with unique themes, particularly in a gala atmosphere." During the cocktail reception, guests mingled in Zeus's statue garden, where models posed as statues throughout the venue. "The statues turn into the entertainment once Pandora's box is open," he said. MORE >>

Pride Toronto, Sandra Bernhard

Q & A 06.18.08 5:13 PM

Mark Singh Gets Ready for the 28th Annual Toronto Pride Week

Pride Week co-chair Mark Singh
Photo: Courtesy of Pride Toronto

Toronto's 28th annual Pride Week—which begins tomorrow and runs until June 29—has several new features, including more stages for programming and a three-day contemporary art show called "Plot, Engage, Disperse." The 10-day event is put on by the not-for-profit organization Pride Toronto, and includes a street festival and the Pride Parade. The whole event draws more than a million participants. "It's not hard to promote Pride Week—it's ubiquitous," says Mark Singh, one of the co-chairs of this year's event. "Where it becomes challenging is that it's a very large festival with dozens and dozens of events. We spend a long time planning what we're going to do and how we're going to promote these events." Here's a look at his strategy.

What’s new this year?
We have a lot that’s new this year. Probably the most exciting thing for us is our kickoff event. It’s the largest kickoff event we’ve ever done, and it’s a Sandra Bernhard live comedy festival on June 22. We’re very excited about it, and the response has been incredible from the community. We’re also doing a number of other new arts-related events, and the festival has expanded into three parks that have become three new programming areas.

Another thing we’ve developed is a full program around our selected international grand marshal [this year's marshal is Gareth Henry from Jamaica], including a forum, panel discussion, an exhibit, and some video pieces. We think that’s really important, because here in Canada, we’ve reached a place where we’re comfortable, we have widespread acceptance, we have legal rights on par with few other places on the planet. We feel that it’s important to do what we can for other queer communities. MORE >>

Pride Toronto, Sandra Bernhard, Pride Week

Search the BizBash Event Supplier Directory

Search for Venues

By Type

By Neighborhood/Location

Show Only New Venues

Search Our Venue Directory