Not sure how to ring in the new year Toronto? Let 3 pros guide you
Nightclubs, live performances, fireworks or 'I might just hang out with my cats'
Whether you're drowning in options for where to ring in 2017 on Saturday night, or you've barely begun to sift through the invitations popping up on your Facebook page, fear not.
CBC Toronto has rounded up three party pros who plan, play at and produce their own New Year's Eve bashes to give us their suggestions.
Tim McCready
Here's the bad news: For the first time in 10 years, Tim McCready, the man behind the New Year's Eve house parties at 159 Manning Ave., won't be throwing his annual bash. Last year it attracted over 600 guests.
He says one of his neighbours complained to the city, so he's working with them to ensure he can start again in 2017.
"It's a bummer," he said. "At the same time, I need the house to live in … so I can't risk getting evicted."
McCready has two recommendations for a similar vibe. The key to his parties, he said, is the great DJs and bands he had playing on different floors of his home.
"If you want to go for that basement, garage rock kind of vibe that I usually do, then I would go to Baby G."
Baby G is a relatively new, small nightclub at 1608 Dundas St. West, where they'll host several bands, including Max Pain and His Groovies, Meanwood and The New Enchanters. Tickets start at $12.
"For the dance side, for the hip-hop side, I'd say go to Parts and Labour," McCready said. He also works as a sound technician there.
That party promises two floors of hip hop, R&B, dance hall and reggae music, starting at 10 p.m. at 1566 Queen St. West. Tickets are $10.
If he can't make either of those, McCready has a backup plan.
"I might just hang out with my cats for a bit or go to a friend's house."
Tempting.
UPDATE: Despite saying he would not throw his annual New Year's Eve house party this year, McCready did have one.
Denise Benson
Denise Benson has been DJing and throwing parties in Toronto since the late 1980s. She's also a music journalist and has released a book chronicling Toronto's nightclub past, Then & Now: Toronto Nightlife History.
She's hooked on electronic, underground dance events, so she'll be partying and DJing at an event called Shelter 325: NYE in a Bunker at 325 Front St. West, near the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
The party is for night owls, running from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. with four rooms full of different sounds and dozens of artists.
"It's a mix of DJs, some live performances and even some spoken word," she said. It will also include a reading from George Elliott Clarke, Canada's parliamentary poet laureate.
Tickets are about $50, with a percentage of the proceeds going to Toronto food banks.
"They get a very mixed, interesting crowd," she said. "Very, very friendly, familiar vibe."
Her second choice would be Plush, a more relaxed party featuring several DJs at a venue called Loft404.
"It's like a big loft with two rooms, hardwood floors and so on," she said. "That would be a more intimate, friendly event with great music."
The party gets started at 9:45 p.m. at 263 Adelaide St. West for about $50.
Massimo Grisafi
Massimo Grisafi is the founder of Insert Marketing, a startup focused on business promotion, a partner at Same Nightclub and the CEO of Lyme Productions, an event promotion company.
Obviously, he has to pitch his own event. Lyme Productions is promoting the eighth annual party at Liberty Grand, a ballroom built in 1926 near Exhibition Place. Tory Lanez, a Toronto hip-hop artist, will host the event, where they'll have three rooms split into hip hop, trance and Top 40 music. Admission is about $70.
"I've always stayed away from doing nightclubs for New Year's because … what makes a nightclub different on New Year's Eve than any other day of the week?" Grisafi said. "I always try to do a different experience."
Grasafi also has his eye on a party called Reboot 2.0 being held in a warehouse that won't be identified until the day of the party. This event will feature three large rooms, each with a unique feel and sound.
Tickets are almost sold out, running at about $70 for the last tier available.
If none of these suggestions sounds appealing, you can always go with a classic: New Year's Eve in Nathan Phillips Square.
While it may not be the warmest option, it is free. The city promises a night full of musical entertainment, including Walk Off The Earth as the night's headliner, a DJ skating party and fireworks at midnight. The festivities begin at 8 p.m.