Luv2Glow Party

 

October 28, 2021

Luv2Glow Party

As fun and interesting as it is to attend so many parties and events during Fantasy Fest, there has been something missing this year more than just the major events and that is a local presence. Generally I would run into people I know almost every night during Fantasy Fest, but the lack of creative focused major events has seriously curtailed local involvement this year.

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I did see some locals at the renegade Zombie Bike ride but aside from that, other than friends who were working at the various venues, the vast majority of people out celebrating Fantasy Fest have been boisterous and fun-loving visitors, many of whom I would see at multiple events. The major exception to this was the sixth annual Luv2Glow party that was held this year at Rick’s.

Founded by local DJ Top Jimmy and regular Key West visting DJ Jevne, the Glow party has been held annually and outgrown a number of venues starting with the old Rumours lounge and most recently at Mary Ellen’s Bar. This year it moved to the much more expansive space at Rick’s and had the room it needed to really provide an awesome experience.

Rick’s isn’t generally a place that many locals spend a lot of time at, myself included. The regular Rick’s crowd is a mix of young Miami types, single military members and not many in the local artistic, creative crowd to be sure. But this night, because of the reputation and quality of all their former events, the organizers drew their large local following and there were more locals at this single party than I saw the rest of the week combined.

If there was one party during Fantasy Fest that was the go-to event of the week, this was easily it. It was terrific. From the time and quality of the decorations, most created by our friend Hutch, to the quality of the music to the incredible fun and exciting vibe that pervaded the entire place, this one hit it out of the park once again. 

Throughout the night there was a line down the block to get in and like the old Tutu parties, there was a definitive variation between the early night crowd and the late nighters who were just waiting to come in when I departed after being there for about five hours. It is so fun to photograph the vivid colors and creative glowing designs, especially when they are being modeled by so many of our friends.

Even with the much larger space than in previous years, the party was jam packed and people were having an amazing time. It was by a long stretch my favorite event of the Fantasy Fest week. This party also marked the latest that I stayed out all week, I was just having such a great time and seeing so many friends that I found it tough to head home, there were a lot of friends around and they just kept arriving as the night went on.

It reminded me of the Tutu parties of previous years in sheer size and scope and since there was no actual Tutu party this year, it was a great alternative. The good news is that the Tutu party will return with a vengeance next February 22. 2/22/22, which just happens to be a Tuesday and will certainly be one for the books as not being held during Fantasy Fest, it will draw a local heavy crowd and looks to be like an epic evening. In the meantime, I will just revel in the fun that was the Glow party in all its vivid colorful brilliance.