In addition to hosting hundreds of film screenings and attracting countless Hollywood celebrities, the Toronto International Film Festival is known for its late-night parties. Here's a look at three pop-up spaces sponsored by Nikki Beach, ET Canada, and Toromagazine.com.
1. Hospitality brand Nikki Beach returned to Toronto for the second consecutive year, setting up two pop-up locations, including a press junket lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel, for the duration of the festival—which began on Thursday and runs through Sunday. For nighttime action and post-screening parties, Nikki Beach worked with Jeffry Roick of McNabb Roick Events to create a Nikki Beach Restaurant and Champagne Lounge within C Lounge. Roick dressed the space, owned by the Liberty Entertainment Group, in the brand's signature all-white decor. The venue, staffed with DJs, hostesses, and a chef from St-Tropez, was open to anyone with a V.I.P. access card.
2. Global’s Entertainment Tonight Canada partnered with the Liberty Entertainment Group to host four red carpet gala events, held Saturday through Tuesday nights, at Festival Central—a party venue in a clear-topped tent on the rooftop of a Yorkville parking garage. The venue, sponsored by L'Oréal Paris and the Bay, hosted official celebrations for Barney's Version and Good Neighbours, as well as a party celebrating Dipdive (Will.I.Am’s new media network), and the presentation of the Spotlight Awards.
ET Canada also set up a studio lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel, where hosts Cheryl Hickey and Rick Campanelli interviewed visiting celebrities. V.I.P.s sipped Moët et Chandon Champagne and autographed a custom magnum to be auctioned off for charity. Stars also had the opportunity to visit a gift suite with jewelry from Thomas Sabo and lingerie from Victoria's Secret.
3. Online men's publication Toromagazine.com partnered with NKPR to present a late-night, invitation-only lounge for film industry insiders called Toro After Dark. The lounge, at Pears on the Avenue (a presentation centre for a condominium project from Menkes Developments Ltd.), ran from Thursday through Sunday, hosting events like the opening of "Red," a preview of The New York Times Canadian Photo Archive curated by Caitlin Cronenberg, and the second annual fund-raiser for Artists for Peace and Justice.
"It's a neat space for a cocktail party because it almost feels like a little bit of a maze, but it works for intimate conversations," said NKPR president Natasha Koifman. For the "Red" opening Thursday, organizers brought in panels of reclaimed barn wood to create a backdrop for the images. And for the APJ fund-raiser, held Saturday, attendees had the opportunity to donate to the charity by buying gift tags from a tree positioned in the centre of the space. (A $100 donation supplied a child in Haiti with clean water, and $500 paid for supplies for an entire school for one year.)
