🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃 🎶 ADVENTURERS OF EVERY AGE, WOULDN’T YOU LIKE TO SEE SOMETHING STRANGE? COME WITH US AND YOU WILL SEE, THIS OUR SPOOKY DANCE PARTY 🎶 🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃
* Plz. Do not shop us to T*m B*rton’s legal team. We are only tender lumplings who want to dance to the pumpkin song.
CYOA is back for Hallowe’en 2018! There’ll be lots of spooky musics and everyone’s fav dancey numbers! There will be suitably autumnal drinks and DIY Space’s usual wonderful selection! Dressing up is encouraged for anyone who enjoys dressing up! ♥ 👻
CYOA is a queer+LGBT dance party for ppl who want a nite out without alcohol/intoxicants – welcoming ppl of all genders&sexualities (& none), all ages, all bodies&characters! We’re running at the amazing and beloved DIY Space for London, located in SE London between South Bermondsey and Queen’s Road Peckham station, and easily reachable from Elephant and Castle.
Please note that DSFL is a member’s club, open to members and their guests only. Membership costs £2 and takes 48 hours to take effect – join and pay at diyspaceforlondon.org. They have an excellent, cheap bar with a range of non-alcoholic drink options – please don’t bring yr own as this jeopardises their license and income.
We run quite an early ship! There’ll be loud musics and all the dancing from 8pm ’til 11.30pm, and then quieter music in the bar until midnight. So, there’ll still be loads of time for dancing and still time for people who need to catch last tubes to do so, and for anyone else to rest and chat/approach their crushes from the dance floor/etc.
Entry: there may be space on the door, but tickets are available in advance with a little bit off! We want everyone to be able to come regardless of income, so have made available a set number of each of three tiers of tickets: standard tickets at £3+Eventbrite fees (£5 door), free tickets for those who need them, and £7 supporter tickets, which will fund others being able to come for free! If you require an extra space for a PA, please also use the free tickets option.
– Why sober? Queer+LGBT spaces, as well as clubs generally, are often heavily centred around drinking, & sometimes we need alternatives. Ppl have lots of reasons for wanting space away from alcohol&c. Mebbe you can’t drink/take intoxicants, for yr health or because of recovery. Mebbe you don’t partake, whether for effects/taste/price/any no. of other reasons. Mebbe intoxicated spaces feel less safe to you – & while everyone’s responsible for what they do under the influence, alcohol & drugs can make ppl less safe in many ways. Mebbe you just want to try going out dancing sober, without the pressure of intoxicant-oriented spaces, or bc the nite before was hard & you want a break.
For many ppl, the presence or absence of alcohol/intoxicants is a basic accessibility & safer space issue. Please respect that: however lovely you might be when not sober, it may be a serious issue for others. Bc of this, please don’t drink/take drugs before coming – sorry, but you won’t be welcome. You can have fun without, promise. & if you really don’t like the thought of going out sober, please remember there are *loads* of spaces that already cater to you on that front, & very few for the ppl for whom the opposite is true. However, please also be aware that some people may appear intoxicated due to medication or medical conditions, and no assumptions should be made about anyone’s state.
For something a bit more in-depth, here are a couple of takes on the need for sober spaces, particularly within queer+LGBT communities:
Fabian Romero – Sober Spaces & Accessibility in the Queer Community: http://is.gd/SIcR0F
Clementine Morrigan & Geoff – Community, Accessibility & Sober Spaces: http://is.gd/qpC1Wy
– What music does CYOA play? Music to dance to. Femme pop, glittery electro, shouty riot grrrl songs &c. Robyn. Janelle Monáe. Le Tigre. Rihanna. Ladytron. Huggy Bear. MIA. Au Pairs. Kenickie. CRJ. 2NE1. Missy Elliott. &so on. Here’s some playlists from past nites to give you an idea:  [www.facebook.com/groups/306215862863327/permalink/476862812465297/]
– Accessibility: General access info for DSFL, including location, wheelchair access inside and out, parking, gender-neutral toilets, medical requirements, PAs, assistance dogs, bar access etc. is available on their website at: https://diyspaceforlondon.org/access/. Music will be loud, but there’s also a quieter room for resting yr eardrums. Bathrooms will be gender-neutral. No alcohol means all ages are welcome. If you’ve any specific questions or issues, leave or send a message & we’ll see what can be done.
While a club nite isn’t for everyone, & isn’t any basis for a utopian project, & while we recognise totally “safe spaces” do not exist in this society, CYOA is committed to doing whatever is reasonably possible to make things as safe as possible. Sexual & other harassment won’t be tolerated, & nor will transphobia, body policing, misogyny, racism, disablism, or turning up intoxicated. We want everyone to feel able to express their genders & sexualities however they wish without fear of harassment. We want celebration of different bodies & personalities. We don’t want cool clubs, & we don’t want cool-of-uncoolness clubs. A lot of how this works out in the details is up to you!, but if there’s anything making you feel unsafe, then a) on the night, let security or the person on the door know, & b) we’d be happy to discuss in private or public what can be done to help/mitigate – send a message to Angelica (DJ Riot Star).