There’s a new party series in Toronto that combines people’s love for caffeine, community and music offering the best of both worlds.
The Coffee Party is a monthly event that puts a unique spin on the city’s party scene by emphasizing health, wellness, fitness and hospitality.
So, how are they doing this? Well, the Coffee Party happens on Saturdays from 11 a.m to 2 p.m. During this time, attendees can enjoy three DJ sets, coffee, mocktails and pastries.
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The mission is to provide people with an opportunity to mingle and make connections without staying out late or relying on alcohol. The first party was held on Nov. 16 at Baro Toronto’s rooftop and was a tremendous success, according to founders.
Co-founders and friends Matthew Campoli, Matty Tsoumaris, Zohaib Aziz and Jeff Gloria created this series in response to a shift in today’s party culture. They recognized the difficulty of meeting people without staying out until the early hours and ultimately, missing out on their daily morning activities. In addition, the rise in running clubs in the city as a form of health and dating also sparked inspiration.
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“…It’s becoming a little bit hard for people to do that, so we decided, let’s create an earlier morning party, so you still get that music and the vibes of the party and a more sober-focused environment where people can come meet and still go on about their day after,” Campoli told Now Toronto on Tuesday.
“Come from the gym, go have a coffee, come network with friends, be around good music, good vibes, and still have a full day ahead of them afterwards. So, that’s essentially the concept in a nutshell,” he continued.
Aziz says the goal was to create a different environment and perspective where people can feel comfortable, have fun and vibe with a good group of people.
RISE IN SOBER LIFESTYLE
According to LCBO’s top alcoholic beverage trends in Ontario of 2024, products with no alcohol saw growth of 73 per cent over the last year and 189 per cent since 2022. Tsoumaris says the group noticed this significant increase in mocktails as well as health and wellness trends, motivating them to marry these ideas.
“We’re bringing night life to day life on a health and wellness aspect to it where there’s a community being built around this event, but also a huge networking. And a lot of things that we did notice in the first one is a lot of people that may have known each other through friend groups or through social media groups, got a chance to actually talk,” Tsoumaris said.
Unlike a night club where the music is extremely loud, Coffee Party provides a chill and inviting space for focussed one-on-one interactions.
Regarding the first Coffee Party, Gloria says the turnout exceeded expectations. The group anticipated about 30 guests, but nearly 300 were in attendance. As word spreads about this new party series, he assures guests that tickets will not be limited and the event will remain open to all.
“Everyone that came in loved each other. I don’t know what it was, but everyone got along. Everyone was having a great time. We never heard anything negative about the event which is really good. There’s obviously areas that we have to improve on, but in terms of what people have said about the event, they’re able to meet new people,” Gloria said.
“They’re able to have such a good time and continue getting on with their day…What we’re going to take away from it is now we have an opportunity for more people to have something to look forward to on a monthly basis in the City of Toronto. And also have the opportunity to not build this just within us four, but build this with the City of Toronto,” he continued.
Following the launch, the group created a TikTok account and posted videos of the celebration, which has over 3,000 followers and nearly 20,000 likes at the time of publication.
Although the party series just kicked off in Toronto, many are already inquiring about when the party will come to other major cities, such as Vancouver, Sydney, and New York.
“All these major cities are like, ‘Wow, I need this in my city.’ It made us realize, ‘Wow, there’s a serious need for people.’ People are actually craving this type of gathering and that’s where a light bulb came on for us. Like, Ok, we’re actually hitting a point here that people are in need of this at this current moment in time with the way things are evolving,” Campoli explained.
Eventually, Gloria says the group hopes to expand the party series to these cities.
“We’re working as an alliance. It’s kind of like an Avengers of The Coffee Party, and we’re all willing to just have this expand and give people that opportunity…If this continues to grow, there’s going to be more people that will discover The Coffee Party and now have a purpose and feel excited to leave their house and be a part of something,” he said.
The next Coffee Party is scheduled for Dec. 21 at Baro Toronto’s rooftop from 11 a.m to 2 p.m. People can sign up on the website for updates.
The ticket entry fee is $10 each and includes all drinks and pastries inside. As with the previous event, the group will also be giving out 50 free shirts as memorabilia.
