Day of the Dead - 3 Nov 2023
"For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one." (Khalil Gibran)
Having spent several years exploring the thinning of the veil between this world and the next at Samhain, or Hallowe’en, Fox&Badge now cordially invite you to our first ever Day of the Dead - a night inspired by, and respectfully admiring of, the rich traditions of El Dia de los Muertos, and its celebration of life through an acknowledgement of its finitude.
The Day of the Dead has been a hybrid holiday from the start, combining the Aztec traditions of ancestor worship with the imported European All Souls' Day - and birthing a joyful fusion: a defiant dance with death while exploding with colour, flowers, food, and festivities.
Our Day of the Dead respectfully learns from its Mexican master; it celebrates; our carnivalesque festival celebrates the best of life: community and connection, dance and music, art and ecstasy.
“Death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back.” (Marcus Aurelius)
The pageant is urban & begins when you arrive. The external street will be closed for our mini festive Parade, as guests mingle with performers, before entering the ground floor Hall of Life - & the grand Mictlan (Place of the Dead) - the lowest level of our Labyrinthian Underworld, and the engine room of our dance.
Intrepid visitors will then be invited on immersive journeys through the Great Halls and Hanging Gardens and extensive outdoor cemeteries - transformed from Dormitories of the Dead to Dance-floors of the Divine, with our top-floor loft a Heavenly Eyrie above the clouds, offering rest and respite, and a range of sensual offerings (tantra; touch; massage; breathplay - and live, loving burials in latex & vac-beds :)
We invite all our guests to contribute to the collective commemorative tapestry of the night - to bring a memento or token that represents a departed loved one, or an aspect of your own identity, or your desired future. Your connection with time - past or as yet unlived.
These offerings (ofrendas) will be arrayed on an altar of remembrance, a testament to the beauty of life and the connections that transcend mortality.
"Death is a door, not a wall." (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Having explored the cavernous underworlds of the Steel Yard, Heaven and E1 this past year, we now journey to Kings Cross to explore a new, slightly larger and more intricate venue - the iconic, recently-revamped Egg LDN nightclub - its name the perfect symbol of birth, and life.
We will be curating a series of magical spaces and experiences across every nook & cranny of EGG’s 3 floors & 3 new outdoor spaces, including:
a spectacular main dancefloor, exploding with powerful and provocative performance & pageantry, powered by our signature all-female lineup of magnificent melodic techno DJs.
a second more intimate and interactive dance floor, with more organic and spiritual sounds, exploring connection over spectacle.
an ethereal and ambient loft space, with a third much gentler sound system, dedicated to chill out and sensuality.
vast swathes of covered, heated, outdoor congregation and cuddle-puddle space - including all night food.
you - our gorgeous community, creatively costumed, celebrating this gift of life.
Egg LDN has some of the best sound in London, with beautiful L’Acoustics & Funktion-One rigs. We'll be supplementing their lighting rigs to make them even more spectacular, and bringing in extensive magical decor. The entire door security team has changed, and we will be hiring the queer-led SafeOnly team as the only security presence throughout the entire venue.
“From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity.” (Edvard Munch)
DRESS CODE: DIA DE LOS MUERTOS + FETISH
C is for Costume! Think:
Catrina! (that iconic skull makeup)
Calavera! (other skullwear)
Calaca! (skeleton outfit)
Cempasúchitl! (or Flor de Muerto - a luscious segue from Summer of Love)
Catholicism! (high fashion & high church; gilt rather than guilt)
Colour! Spruce your blacks with reds & yellows, fun & florals!
Ckink! Show that inner corporeal colour - sensual & secy, alluring & embodied.
Explore our extensive and growing Day of the Dead Pinterest board at https://bit.ly/fandbDayofDeadCostume - NB it also has a cautionary section on what to avoid wearing :) Be creative, inventive, & as luscious as you can possibly imagine.
Each item you wear & each lick of makeup all compose the larger whole; each of you is a crucial creative captain in our benevolent army of the night.
Our Door Guardians will be checking costumes and upholding standards, strictly but lovingly. They’ll do everything possible to enable you to enter, but if you come inappropriately dressed, you won’t be entering with those clothes; prepare for full disclosure, in the clothes you were born in :)
This is a high-production, co-created arts & fetish event. We respect and celebrate this continental tradition and thus have no space for ironic, mocking, bad-taste offerings; we seek elevation rather than degradation; harmony rather than dissonance.
We love crafted costumes and stuff you carefully and lovingly made. We prefer innovation to imitation, evolution to tradition. Please feel very free to respectfully create something that is inspired by the rich, colourful, playful sensuality of Day of the Dead - yet produces something new and alluring.
Absolutely no daywear, streetwear, businesswear, officewear, banalwear, or anything off-theme will be allowed. NO T shirts, shirts, slacks, sneakers - or anything ordinary you’d just wear down the street. If you are trying to figure out how to make this as easy and basic as possible, this is not the event for you.
This is not another Halloween event. NO blood; zombies, vampires, werewolves or other Halloween confusions. This is a rare pageant; a mighty parade; a collective ceremony celebrating life to its fullest! Think FANTASY + FETISH. Be bold and expressive and self-loving. You are the gift. Be generous. Costume-wise, you simply cannot go too far. If in doubt, ask.
"Death isn’t sad. The sad thing is: most people don’t live at all.” (Socrates)
Please ensure you acquaint yourself with our House Rules at https://www.foxandbadge.com/house-rules We will be asking all guests about these on the door. Our events aim to create as safe a space as possible, and we will ensure everyone has a clear understanding of the need for consent, respect, tolerance and love.
We cannot wait to ecstase with you all!
<3 F&B
We have a very small number of free tickets for those that are interested and able to help us e.g. setup & takedown and manage the door; please get in touch via https://bit.ly/fandbhelp or an email to foxandbadge+volunteer@gmail.com if you might be interested in this. Many thanks!
Please note: there will be ample photographers & videographers of ours present throughout the night, and images of the night will be distributed on our channels; please ask if you do not want to be filmed.
We kindly request that you leave your phones to the side, not film the night, and be fully present; we will share all our beautiful professional photos & videos with our community immediately after the event.
“The Mexican is familiar with death, jokes about it, caresses it, sleeps with it, and celebrates it. True, there is as much fear in his attitude as in that of others, but at least death is not hidden away: he looks at it face to face, with impatience, disdain or irony.” (Octavio Paz)
