What if your path to love didn’t start with a swipe, but with your best friend hyping you up on stage?
In this edition of This Is Dating Now, we’re looking into the charming idea of Pitch-A-Friend, a dating event where friends quite literally pitch their single friends to a live audience in hopes of sparking something real.
Brought to Toronto by life coach and entrepreneur Sylvia Calleri, the LGBTQ+-friendly and age inclusive event flips the script on modern dating by making it more communal, a little chaotic, and a lot more fun.
The concept started in Philadelphia in 2022 as a way of integrating society back into local bars post-pandemic and quickly took off, growing into a global movement in more than 60 cities worldwide. Calleri, founder of the relationship and self-growth platform Authentically Evolving, brought the format to Toronto this past February, and it’s already become an anticipated experience for singles looking to meet in real life.
“[People] are tired of the apps, and I’m one of them,” Calleri said to Now Toronto on Thursday.
“Being able to meet the person live is incredible… you’re learning about the person from someone else, and not having to really interrogate them and asking all the questions.”
Pitch-A-Friend Toronto events are mainly hosted in breweries, partly to keep the atmosphere casual, but also to support local businesses and draw in fresh foot traffic.
“We invite people to attend for free because we want the venues to benefit from patrons buying drinks and buying food,” Calleri explained.
“It usually happens on a weeknight, because it’s to help bring in new traffic. You know, Friday and Saturdays are usually busy nights already for these locations. So, we’re trying to bring in new people, new business for them. And that’s the whole point of it.”
Here’s how it works: for $20, you gather your slideshow presentation to pitch your single friend in front of dozens of curious, open-hearted strangers. You have a few minutes to sell their best qualities like personality and interests, and then later, the friend can come on stage and take questions. Calleri says one of the most amusing nights she’s witnessed at an event was exes pitching each other for a newfound love.
“What I’m finding is that it’s a celebration of friendship. It’s not a roast, it’s a boast,” she said.
Ideally, the goal is to win the affection of someone in the crowd. But Calleri says she hasn’t officially seen any end-games just yet.
“I asked for people to share back with me, but I can’t force them to tell me,” she laughed.
“I know that Pitch-A-Friend [in other cities] has had great success stories, because the people do come back. I have seen some connections happening in front of my eyes, where they’ve walked away together.”
The next Toronto edition of Pitch-A-Friend will take place on Oct. 9 at Stackt Market. If you’re tired of swiping and want to meet someone through the lens of friendship, charisma, and community, this might be your new favourite way to date!
“You want your best friend to be in a coupled relationship, because you know that they deserve the best,” she said.
“This is a great way for people to really meet quality people, and know what you’re getting upfront, because it’s coming from someone else, as opposed to coming from the individual themselves, who you don’t know if they’re catfishing you or if they’re telling you the truth. A friend probably won’t lie.”
Got a dating pitch for us? We want to hear it! Send your experiences to news@nowtoronto.com for a chance to be featured in a future edition of This Is Dating Now.
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