anabolic frolic

September 3, 2001
Party/protest draws 30,000 to city hall square
Dance fans get together to pressure politicians to enable raves to continue in city venues: Must pay for officers

Malcolm Kelly, with files by Mitchel Raphael
National Post

A crowd estimated by organizers at nearly 30,000 ravers and electonic music fans flexed their political muscle at a 10-hour party at Nathan Phillips Square yesterday.

Supported by a handful of politicians and a major corporate sponsor, the iDance event was held in part to put pressure on politicians to keep the rave movement from having to go underground to private venues, because of what it calls the excessive cost of hiring paid duty officers when using city-owned sites.

At a similar event 13 months ago, more than 10,000 people showed up to ask politicians to kill measures to ban raves on city-owned property. The measure was overturned.

Microsoft's new X-box video game console system was presenting sponsor of yesterday's event, while Bell Mobility put a booth in one corner.

Both were overshadowed by the pulsing music that ran almost continuously from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m., spun by well-known international electronic music DJs and hosted by some of the scene's most popular MCs. Among the speakers at the event was Olivia Chow, the city councillor who likes to attend raves, and former mayors Barbara Hall and John Sewell.

"We want to show that we can be a powerful political force," said event organizer Will Chang, a lawyer and an instructor at Osgoode Hall Law School. "We want people to understand the issues and to help spread the word."

Since last year's victory, ravers say, a number of planned events at city-owned locations have had to be cancelled because they have been unable to afford the required number of paid duty officers to staff them -- something rave supporters say makes the raves financially impossible.

According to Mr. Chang, at the last few parties at the CNE grounds, the price for paid duty officers to police the event was greater than the cost of renting the building.

In the past, Police Chief Julian Fantino has come out strongly against raves, saying they were "threatening the very fabric of Canadian life."

Mr. Chang claims that of 20 deaths in Ontario attributed to the drug Ecstasy since 1998, only four occured directly at raves or involved those who had ingested the drug at such an event.

Organizers of yesterday's event also wanted to get across the point that city locations such as at the Canadian National Exhibition are safer than other similar-sized venues because they tend to feature high ceilings, good ventilation and access to lots of water and washrooms.

Ms. Chow led the crowd in a cheer ("Who can party better than Toronto? Nobody!!!") and gave her full support to raves, a scene she says she has been involved in for about 18 months.

"Raves are about all races, creeds, colours and sexual orientations coming together, unified," said Ms. Chow. "It is about DJs, musicians, dancers, even councillors like me coming together."

She went on to tell the crowd to send a message to Queen's Park, which last week introduced legislation that would give cities more power to control raves. That, she said, would send more raves underground.

"There's a thing called 'out of sight, out of mind.' People just want to bury their heads about raves," Ms. Chow said of those in city hall who want to keep raves off city property. The evening was highlighted by a six-foot disco ball, bathed in floodlights, that illuminated the surrounding cityscape to the cheers of the crowd.

A 28-year-old man, described by police as a resident of the square, was arrested and charged with assault last night after a male partygoer, 31, received a cut to the neck from a broken bottle. He was treated at hospital and released.

Everybodies_Daddy

"If I can't dance, I don't want to be in your fucking revolution!"

Best quote of the day.

MCED

__________________
Dirty Little Secrets

Hot + Dirty

KarmicKande

agreed. how could you not feel a sense of pride at that moment?

*sniff*

__________________
§ p u n n
follow the white rabbit...

Kornflake~Girl

30,000 people is a lot of people.... is that number accurate?

hummm..

__________________
**Guilty before prooven innocent**