In this series, I’ll be sharing my experience co-founding Strings, an Amsterdam-based sex-positive collective, and organising our first event last year.
Let me start with the biggest learning from our search for a venue: it’s HARD. We began with a long list of potential locations, but our options narrowed quickly once we started looking more closely at what each space could realistically offer.
From the outset, we had a few non-negotiable requirements:
Alongside these requirements, we had several “nice-to-haves” for our ideal venue:
In the end, we found an affordable community centre-type venue with a capacity of around 120 people that checked most of our boxes. They had hosted a few adjacent events previously, and were explicitly queer friendly.They were willing to let us use the space from noon onwards, with the event time being 8pm-3am However, the primary draw was two separate spaces (glass structures) within the main area that could be used as a play space and chill area respectively.
We compromised on the locker situation by providing hangers in a separate hallway near the entrance - not an ideal solution as this was not fully monitored throughout the evening, so we did let our attendees know beforehand.
For the play space, we worked with a collective that sets up playrooms to source mattresses and a spanking bench. We also draped sheer fabrics around the space to make it feel more welcoming. One of our biggest challenges was making the spaces dark enough without compromising - we actually ended up creating a second playspace that was much darker (unfortunately there are no photos) using some furniture to section off a corner of the room and a couple of the mattresses. It was a little closer to the dancefloor than we would have liked, but in the end it was well-received by some of our attendees so maybe it was the right choice.
For the chill room, we leaned towards shades of pink and purple, with soft textures and lighting to make the space feel cosy and intimate.
Due to financial constraints, we sourced most of the decor at charity shops and market stalls, as well as some from previous events (the flower string lights hanging in the chill room were painstakingly handmade!). In many ways, it became a fun creative challenge to make things work on a tight budget. While our aesthetic may not have been the most polished, embracing a more DIY, underground feel ultimately made the space feel more approachable and authentic.
That said, the venue's biggest drawback was its lack of built-in infrastructure. We had to create and section off our own smoking area near one of the entrances, including covering all the windows to ensure attendees' privacy. We also underestimated the challenges posed by the absence of party-appropriate lighting and a quality sound system, both of which required more problem-solving than anticipated. The lack of lockers was less significant, though it did lead to some confusion at the end of the night as people were gathering their belongings.
In the end, the different spaces we created complemented one another well and were used to their full potential throughout the evening. However, bringing them to life was a substantial labour of love, requiring many hours of help from friends and partners and leaving us with limited time to prepare for other aspects of the event.
My biggest takeaway for the future is that I would strongly prefer a venue with more existing infrastructure. Even a modest amount would free up valuable time and energy, allowing us to focus more on the human side of what we do rather than the logistical challenges of building everything from scratch.