A Night at Future Parties….

And after what seems like an eternity, Lady Lilith finally made it to Future Parties.

So, how was it, you may be asking? Well, it has been three days since then and I still have mixed feelings about it.

Future Parties has been growing and making a name for itself in the scene for quite sometime, and it is run by two of the strongest and most charismatic women I have seen. Prior to my first visit, the feedback I was receiving was all over the place; it went from people saying it is mainly a swing/sex party, to others saying how good the fetish side of things were. Some commented that the clientele consisted mainly of older, white men, while others said how refreshing it was to finally have an event that welcomed all ethnicity. I basically did not know what to think – all I knew is that I wanted to check it out before the end of the year, as so far this year has not been great in terms of discovering new fetish events.

My first surprise was when the group I was in arrived at the location (which is kept secret until the day before) We were not only as far south as one can possible think, but we were standing in front of a house in a quiet neighborhood. This just took me by surprised as the FB event didn’t mention that they were going for a ‘house-party’ vibe at all. Events like Skirt Club use their location as one of their USP (a posh west end home, mind you) so it would have been nice to have known this in advance. The house in itself was very nice, but nowhere near as big as needed for the number of people attending. Again, for fetish event, there is a chance that people will make the effort and dress quite flamboyantly, and this was a space where such an outfit would not have been suitable as you would not be able to fit along the corridors!

I did hear that some of their events take place in a larger house in west London, so it may be just my unlucky day that I chose the wrong event to attend. However, there were some really good things at this party.

First, is how welcoming it is. I don’t think I have been to a fetish event where so many people were of colour. So for once I was not the only brown girl there. There was also not the pressure to put on your finest latex. People were rocking from all-fetish gear to 70s dresses (it was a Studio 54 theme) There was also a nice variety of play allowed; from needles to wax and shibari. Basically, the motto is be safe and clean after yourself, which I can get behind it. One of the people working at the event even did fire flogging on the terrace, which was as amazing to watch as it sounds. People were also very friendly, but I would say that because I knew a lot of people there. I did notice a few creepers around but you can’t help those at sex parties – they come with the territory.

One thing I did notice was a lack of atmosphere. It is great to start with a nice empty house, but it is what you do with it that counts. Again, this is something where Skirt Club excels at (even though it is quite a different event in certain aspects). It would have been great to see the space transformed into a homage to the great Studio 54 (which, for those who don’t know, was a 70’s club notorious for its hedonism and crazy-beyond-words parties). I feel like it’s not enough to just be a fetish/sex club to create an electric atmosphere – you need to entice people and that starts from the moment they walk through the door.

I would say that this particular event was more swing/sex than fetish. Mainly because there was nowhere near enough space to play. The dungeon

was very small, so that you could not use a flogger safely, so it simply became another sex area. You could also not enter the room unless you were playing so the queueing system was difficult to understand and follow.

So, would I go again? I actually would check it out again at a different venue so that I can see for myself if this was a one off or if this is what FP is all about. I do think that FP is more tailored towards those in the swing/sex side of things, rather than fetish, but that is the beauty of the scene; there is something for everyone. It certainly had a chilled vibe and if you are into this side of things, then I would definitely recommend it. It is not really for me, but if there is one thing that 2019 is teaching me, is that maybe there is no perfect fetish event out there for me.

My next event is Crossbreed, which is a ridiculously new event in London, so we will see how that goes!