Fetisch

Casting pearls before swine

12. Sept. 2014
© PiGBerlin/Tony Fong

– An interview with Folsom Europe board member and PiG party promoter Knuth Sorger

Folsom Europe attracts a lot of international visitors, some of whom might have been to the original Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco. What would you say is the main difference between the two events? 
The main difference is the pure size of the event. In San Francisco the number of visitors is about 400,000 across 13 city blocks. The street fair here in Berlin, with about 20,000 visitors, is more a kind of family meeting, surrounded with many side events and activities before and after.

There is word that Folsom Europe e.V. had to pay the organizers of Folsom Street Fair in order to use the name. Why not just name it Fuggerstraße Fair? Folsom Europe has a contract with the organizers in San Francisco allowing us to use the name, but we did not pay any fees for that. As for the idea of naming it Fuggerstraße Fair, that kind of street fair had its origin in the USA, and it was known as Folsom Street Fair all over the world. We also wanted to reflect the charity aspect behind Folsom. Every year there are donations collected by various organizations that are given to projects for AIDS awareness, for example, or local information boards. We have worked together closely with the local Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence since the beginning. That is why we chose the name Folsom Europe.

Most Berliners say that the era of massive parties has ended, but PiG seems to be growing and growing every year. What do you attribute the success to? We have always tried to create something new. We use off-locations instead of the usual fetish party clubs, and we change locations every few years. We set up specific playrooms and always offer something special. Together with the large international crowd, this creates a very unique feel, which is probably the secret of our success. This year we included the Badeschiff (open-air pool area), making it the only fetish party worldwide that offers this kind of riverbank pool experience.

The dress code is "sleazy fetish"—what's the sleaziest outfit you have seen at PiG over the years? (Laughs) Oh my god, there have been so many hunky men in sleazy outfits, or was it sleazy men in hunky outfits. I guess you just have to judge for yourself.

Leather and rubber are probably the two biggest fetishes represented at Folsom. What are some of the more obscure ones? The types of fetishes have become much more diverse in recent years. Besides traditional leather, rubber and uniform, there is a sizeable sports crowd. Neoprene is also growing strongly, and we have actively integrated a queer section catering to women, trans/inter and queer people. 

Is entry permitted for some of the more fringe fetishes, like furries (cartoon animal costumes) or adult babies (diapers)? 
PiG caters to the traditional fetishes like leather, rubber, uniform, neoprene and sports. We see it as a fetish party for gay men and try to keep it as such. Furries and diapers would be out of place at PiG, and I doubt that guests with these fetishes would feel comfortable there. But there are other parties at Folsom offering other styles and fetishes, some more bizarre carnival, some straight/bi/gay mixed and even specifically trans/inter/queer parties.

Entry is about two or three times the cost of an average party in Berlin. What offerings can visitors expect to justify that price? The price is mostly due to the higher costs. The locations we use are not equipped for fetish parties, and everything has to be set up just for this event. That also means that open spaces, such as the Badeschiff, have to be rented exclusively and secured to avoid mixing with other parties or crowds. We are offering new playrooms, and that all comes at a price. Compared to Berlin prices that makes the entry higher, but compared to international parties, where tickets sell for 80 or even more than 100 euros, prices are low.

How many people and hours does it take to set up the dungeons and playrooms? Twenty people are working on that, and it takes three days.

What kind of music can the crowd expect? Minimal techno and tech-house.



Knuth Sorger

Interview: Joey Hansom

PiG, 13.09., 23:00, Arena/Glashaus

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