Partisan All Day Party #18

Recap, musings and spirals from our most recent day party

Partisan have been running all day parties since it started in 2016. Like many members my first time engaging with this space was through one of these at the previous Cheetham Hill venue more than 4 years ago now.

Since moving into the current Islington Mill space, we’ve had variable successes with day parties. The idea of being in a dark and dingy club space at daytime does not appeal to me at all, even more so when it’s sunny outside.

Posters from previous all day parties

The big challenge was figuring out a way to make a day party work with the Partisan club space. My big ruse involved a plan to start the party at Mirage Queer Bar next door, which has big windows that lets in lots of gorgeous natural light, and then slowly moving proceeding towards the club space later in the day as it gets darker.

Nick, who operates Mirage has done a great job decorating the space. He is a professional set designer and it is apparent walking through the very aesthetically pleasing space. Who knew gays can be good at interior design?

I really enjoyed the vibes in Mirage. I manage to catch bits of Atalaya’s set, who really lit up the dancefloor with the signature percussive Latin rhythms that they’re quickly getting known for across various Manchester dancefloors.

By the time Linnkü and Wobbegong took over the dancefloor was heaving. Their irresistibly groovy bruk beats gave the crowd a good workout. I appreciated the selection of bright and colourful melodies, a perfect pairing with the soft late afternoon sun streaming in through the windows.

The courtyard was another popular spot that day. I spent a good portion of time lazing outside catching rays and hanging out. You can hear the infectious hum of electronic grooves in the background emanating from the dancefloor, transmitting vibes to the outdoor space that was alight with chatter.

It had all the ingredients for a perfect afternoon: good music, great weather, fabulous company.

this little one also enjoying the sunny courtyard

I also managed to dip in and out of the various activities on offer throughout the day, just to make sure things were going ok and that people were having a good time.

We had A LOT going on. DJ workshops, life drawing, print making, portrait drawing, zine-making, a queer book swap even. I wasn’t sure how it would go down to be honest. When thinking about activities the team threw a whole bunch of ideas at the wall, and we decided to go with ALL of them lol. So I was pleasantly surprised to see lots of people engaging with it, some activities had people lining up to take part.

Shoutout to all the volunteers who helped out, it was really appreciated <3

Throughout the day, there was a small part of my brain that was pre-occupied with bar sales, as the Partisan bar looked empty when I checked the club space. We’ve run the day in collaboration with Mirage, but as separate venues (many people still don’t know this!!) will keep earnings from our own respective bars.

This is the bulk of our income: ticket sales and bar earnings, which has become my frequent obsession in the past year. There is usually a number in my head that I know we’d need to break even and I would relentlessly check our sales apps to see if we are on track to meeting that target.

My very neurotic behavior is likely a reflection of how difficult it has been trying to keep this space going. It feels like we’re constantly about to fall off a cliff’s edge and it doesn’t help when every few weeks you hear about yet another small venue closing down.

I had one more ace up my sleeve to play. We’d recruited our lovely neighbour Deli Lama Cafe to cater some food. Linda, who runs the cafe had prepared portions of vegan jackfruit curry to serve with steamed rice, along with some fresh garnishes. The plan was to set it up in the club at 5pm as a way to draw people into the space. Devious, I know.

It didn’t take long for the smell of freshly cooked hot food to waft into the courtyard, and people started making a quick beeline towards the source. I sadly didn’t manage to sample some myself because I was too slow *cries*. But I heard rave reviews from a happy customer, ‘that jackfruit curry tastes like crack’.

I breathed a sigh of relief, as the Partisan club dancefloor slowly filled out. The sun had gone down by now, and a slight chill was starting to set in, encouraging people to move indoors.

I spent the last few hours bopping away on the dancefloor, a little giddy from the sun and also secretly pleased that we’d figured out a way to make the space work for a daytime party.

I felt a small glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe we might be able to pull through this year.

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