There are a multitude of food, art, and music events that happen on the daily in Toronto. The event scene is oversaturated, and we, the people, are consumed by hitting up every one in a #FOMO panic. We want to hashtag the sh*t out of every experience and apply filters to every photo so we look cooler than we really are. But there are a handful of shindigs every month that actually are deserving of our attention, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook updates. La Carnita‘s DOS was one of ’em this past weekend. (Shindig was tight, yo!) Here are the top 5 tips to throw a party, as (indirectly) dictated by La Carnita…
The Venue is Key
DOS took over the massive Brick Works space, which can hold about 3,000 people and actually did on Friday. This is by no means an innovative venue choice, but it is, however, the perfect spot for an event of this nature. That doesn’t mean every en masse spectacle should book with the Evergreen folk. Pick a venue that will serve as the canvass for your event, but won’t overpower it.
Fact: Music Will Make or Break Your Fete
From the second we walked into DOS, the music took over our bodies and us jive turkeys got to two-stepping while waiting in lines. It helps that La Carnita enlisted TO-based Grandtheft and DJ Platurn from Cali to take turns spinning dem beats. The songs flowed effortlessly into one another, providing a hip-hop/dirty pop soundtrack of awesomeness.
Art Can Be F*ckin’ Rad
Yeah, we’re no art buffs at VTV HQ. But we do like us some twisted street creativity. Sam Flores from San Fran and Joseph Martinez from LA were the two big draws down the art alley, but all exhibitors were cool in their own right. The colourful area was packed all night long, showing that wisps of paint and contrast-dense photos can have as much of a cult following as La Carnita’s In Cod We Trust. Which brings us to our next point…
People Will Wait Hours (Literally) for Good Food
Around 8:30pm we bumped into a couple friends who had just entered the seemingly never-ending line for the aforementioned In Cod We Trust tacos. (As another colleague proclaimed, “The line basically goes to Yonge Street.”) Shortly after 10pm – post-art alley analyzing, Bear Flag drinking, and corn-on-the-cobbing – we bumped into them again… still in line… still smiling… still patient. We had cased the whole joint multiple times by now, and they’d spent their night shuffling an inch at a time waiting for a fish taco. (Wondering if those in attendance forgot La Carnita has a perma home on College Street…?) Goes to show, if you build it – and place a religious moniker on it – they will come… in droves… and they will wait.
People Will Wait Half Hours (Only) for Food They’ve Never Had
Not sure why, but Chicago’s Big Star had reasonably sized lineups. We got through ’em in what seemed like a heartbeat. For us, that was the bigger draw than La Carnita. (Because we, of course, will never forget they have a perma home on College Street.) Point is, waiting for Big Star’s nosh was a gamble to attendees – most of which had never tasted the Chi-town fave – but one that paid off like winning a double jackpot at the slots. Thanks to the power of social media, their lines grew as the night moved on and Instagram was graffitied with #BigStar. Going social media at a soiree is as apropos as simply going social.