KPMG Stages Urban Winterfest

A tattoo artist, strolling saxophonist, and painter-drummer performance art combo helped create a funky downtown vibe in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for KPMG's Winterfest party for more than 2,200 guests. The annual event, organized by KPMG event executive Susan Tauer with assistance from event management and design firm Donovan by Design, kicked off with a skating performance by Lisa and Kent Grice on a faux ice surface inside the centre. The wintry theme continued in the reception area, where a tattoo artist from Party Extras offered guests temporary crystal tattoos.Further inside, a gallery-style space featured 12 plasma screens in gilded picture frames showing images of KPMG employees. In the same area, figurative artist Monique Richard stood behind a large 7- by 9-foot gilded picture frame while painting on a small easel-mounted canvas; off to the side, musician Byron Barwick accompanied her with a jazz beat on his drum kit. Other theme areas included O'Malleys Pub, where a musician performed sing-along songs on an acoustic piano, and Queen St. West, where models from Statues Alive posed in three faux store windows and pretended to be mannequins wearing urban fashions. Additional entertainment included musician Paul Lamoureux, who walked around playing the saxophone, and chalk artist Jan Walsh, who created works of art on the floor.

In the dining space, D?cor & More supported the event's hip urban look with tables of various shapes, including round, serpentine, and rectangular.

Before and during dinner, acrobatic performers from Anti Gravity and the Michele Lawrence Quartet, which performs American songbook standards, supplied on-stage entertainment. After dinner, guests returned to the main space, which had been transformed into a nightclub-style setting, and danced into the early hours of the morning to music by dance band Alter Ego and DJ Anthony Wright.

—Robyn Small

Photos: Henry Lin

Posted 01.11.07