While we should be soaking up the splendour of sun, sea & sand in South Africa, as we find ourselves rather languishing in London, we swap to snow for our International Special Focus, honing in on The European Gay Ski Week that brings together a bevy of brilliant clubbing brands in a seven day symphony of scintillating sounds.
Having lived in the Southern hemisphere for a sizable slice of our informative teenage & early adult years, we quickly acclimatised ourselves to the heat of the South African Highveld, Johannesburg our home city that, despite not having the sea & the sand on its doorstep, had sun in virtually year round abundance. And on the odd occasions when the weather was wet & inclement, we soon realised that we had an adverse affinity to the damp, the cold and the lack of sunshine, snow not even coming into the equation, we continuing to crave the heat, the sun and, with our folks now based on the natal north coast along with friends of ours in Cape Town, both the sea & the sand. Yet, as we found ourselves laying our hat in London, we have had to endure some pretty awful winters, not least this current one which is fighting off the spring, just last week we suffering snow on our streets and this is March for heaven’s sake. But while we make no secret of our hatred for the cold and everything that comes with it, when it comes to skiing, we accept that many others savour the wonderful white stuff and when on the slopes of the Alps or wherever it may be, not only report back that the sun can shine bright, but with the proper preparation & clothing, it can actually be a warming experience full of excitable enjoyment. However, the thought of spending a day, let alone a week staring at snowy slopes leaves us literally cold, although in casting this adversity aside, we find ourselves not only previewing but recommending the forthcoming European Gay Ski Week.
But before we extol the virtues of this year’s weeklong event which kicks off on the Alpe d’Huez ski resort this Saturday (16th March), marking the 5th Anniversary of the annual event, we thought we would share a slice or two of the history of The European Gay Ski Week (EGSW), the team behind it all telling us that “…founded in 2008, year one of EGSW took place in Tignes, France in March 2009 boasting a promising yet relatively small 200 attendees, artists including Andy Bell from Erasure and Soul II Soul part of proceedings. Proving a popular ski area and resort and with clubbing parties in the evenings upping the offer, guests came back in even larger numbers. Year two almost doubled in numbers to 370 and doubling again in 2010 European Gay Ski Week had become the fastest growing and most popular gay ski week in Europe. By this time its reputation was growing throughout the industry as well and the roll call of clubs and D.J.’s that were participating in the event were beginning to read like who’s who of gay clubbing from Europe and beyond. Amongst those who joined EGSW were internationally renowned D.J./Producers Steven Redant, Leomeo & Pagano, while clubbing brands Trade & La Demence were involved. In 2011, EGSW decided it wanted to treat it’s attendees to a new resort, Alpe d’Huez as this yearly event was becoming such a huge success, with its now 1000+ attendees, and the ever-increasing list of big-named artists. EGSW also knew it had found a resort that could further cater for its revellers needs. Alpe d’Huez transforming itself into a gay-town for one week every year, while in 2012, every club, restaurant, bar, and venue wanted a piece of the EGSW action….”
So that brings you pretty much up to date with EGSW which, this year, looks bigger and better than ever with a bevy of clubbing brands from across Europe getting involved, Spain’s WE Party, Amsterdam amazer Rapido, Brussels based La Demence, London’s Lovechild, Paris’s Scream & associated LAB party, Berlin based Greenkomm, Dutch beefy brand Bear Necessity & NYC founded fetish brand Hustlball all involved, making for the biggest clubbing collective yet, boosted even further by D.J./Producer Psagano’s own club brand Deviate. And the D.J. line up is equally impressive, Steven Redant flying the La Demence flag, Pagano clearly steering Deviate, while other stars of the scene heading to the snowy ski slopes include Paul Heron, Oliver M, Ben Manson, Tony English, Alessandro Londra & Steve Thomas, with plenty more on the cards but yet to be announced, while there will be a host of drag queens, performers & artists involved in this fabulous festival that is fast becoming more about the clubbing which in terms of balance is fast catching up the skiing in the scales stakes. And for those that love either aspects of entertainment, EGSW is certainly an enthralling event & festival, the numbers of attendees this year already considerably higher than last, perhaps an indication of its pluming popularity, while much of the actual detail remains under wraps, with no event pages to refer you to, while having scoured their Facebook page at https://facebook.com/EuropeanGaySkiWeek, it is clear, apart from attendees who will be privy to all the party details, we are left with the artwork jigsaw pieces to try put together the programme, although with no particular dates posted our cause is all but lost.
That said, if you are one of the 1200 heading to the Alpe d’Huez this coming Saturday (16th march), you can be guaranteed both superb skiing & captivating clubbing each day & night of this weeklong festival frolic and EGSW’s eleven strong support team & management members Kevin Millins & Simon Patrick will give you the warmest of welcomes, meaning while we won’t be swapping sun, sea & sand for the ski slopes & snow anytime soon, this 5th anniversary of all things skiing & clubbing gets our fabulous thumbs up. (DISCO MATT)
