“Drag, gender bending, club kid, glamour, grunge. People should show up in whatever they feel like!”
Originally an experiment to spice up Reykjavík’s nightlife with some gay glamour the Pink Parties have become an event the Icelandic LGBT crowd eagerly awaits. Hannes Sasi Pálsson, co-owner of party host Pink Iceland, promises a vastly entertaining experience at The Skuggabar, Hotel Borg, on November 2nd.
“Well, this is our third-party and they just keep getting better,” he says. “But as always, the emphasis is on creating a fantastic and glamorous night out with great tunes.” And what great combination of music Pink Iceland has in store for us: electro, chart, rock, some indie or as Hannes puts it: “Whatever brings people to the floor!”
The event is scheduled to coincide with the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival which is a time when a lot of guests from abroad are in town. So don’t be surprised to see a lot of new faces. And apparently Pink Iceland is in talks with local musicians about performing at the Pink Party before the Dj starts. “We love showcasing great talent,” Hannes tells us, “and we promise nobody will be let down. In the past we’ve enjoyed the talents of Elín Ey, Lay Low, Thorunn Antonia and Patrick Wolf to name a few.”
Guests are encouraged to dress up. “After our February Masquerade party which was a huge success we’re going to carry on the tradition of dressing up for the night,” says Hannes with a big smile on his face. “Drag, gender bending, club kid, glamour, grunge. People should show up in whatever they feel like.” Hannes is quick to point out that they won’t be strict with the dress code. “We don’t want to become those people who don’t let people in unless they look or dress a certain way.”
And rather than having special offers at the bar Hannes ensures us that the Pink Team will see to it that the bar is well stocked and reasonably priced. “Of course those who show up early get a free drink!”
Before we let Hannes off the hook we want to know how the idea for the Pink Parties first came up. “One day at the office we just realized we weren’t doing anything special with the local LGBT community,” he recalls. “So we wanted to try create a party different from a regular night out. Currently we only have one queer bar in Iceland, KiKi, and while it is a wonderful establishment that we frequent, the thought of creating another kind of nightlife experience just sounded so fun.”
The Pink Party will be held at the Skuggabar of Hotel Borg on the 2nd of November. The festivities begin around 10PM. Tickets will only be sold at the door. Admission is 1000 ISK before 11.30 and comes with a free drink. After 11.30 it’s going to be 2000 ISK, but there will be free drinks until they run out. Members of the local The National Queer Association (i. Samtökin ’78) get a 500 ISK discount.
You can follow the event on Facebook, as well as twitter and Instagram. Use the hashtag #pinkiceland
– By Roald Eyvindsson/Photos: Alisa Kalyanova
