On Thursday, October 31st, 2019, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) threw one of the biggest Halloween parties the city has ever seen! The TIFF Bell Lightbox was transformed into the TIFF Boom Box, TIFF’s annual Halloween party that raises funds for TIFF’s charitable endeavours. Since its inception, the event has raised over $1.3 million that allows TIFF to continue to develop and provide film-based education and outreach, film preservation, and programs to help budding filmmakers.
This year’s party theme was Heroes vs. Villains. Over 1000 guests braved the miserable rainy weather and made their way to the party dressed in their most elaborate costumes. The TIFF Bell Lightbox was barely recognizable as the ground floor was transformed into a massive dance floor with a stage that showcased DJ Blackcat and Mr. Akil D facing off in a fierce DJ battle. On the upper level, a runway battle was underway with models and guests giving their fiercest struts that would even impress Naomi Campbell and Jourdan Dunn. There was also the Battle Illustration where illustrators spent the entire night creating custom cartoon characters for guests who lined up for hours for a drawing.
There was also an open bar, cakes and sweet treats from The Grand Order of Divine Sweets, and other installations (aka battles to maintain the heroes vs. villains theme) to keep the guests entertained throughout the night. The biggest highlight of the night was the wonderful performance from Cirque du Soleil Alegria. It was breathtaking to watch the acrobats spin, contort, and hurl themselves metres into the air to the mystified crowd.
After the performance, the best-dressed party-goers were brought on stage for the costume contest. It was fun to see such well thought out and highly detailed costumes. If the couple who dressed up as Beetlejuice and the man dressed as Harvey Dent aka Two-Face, congratulations on winning the costume contest! The overwhelming chanting and applause from the crowds assured that they won the coveted title of best dressed of this year’s Boom Box. DJ Lissa Monet took to the stage for a killer DJ set that kept everyone dancing into the early morning hours.
© 2019 Article by Aleka Allen, Photos and layout TorontoArtsandEvents. All Rights Reserved. Editors please contact us for use.
Check out the pictures from the TIFF Boom Box:
