Now officially every festival party hoppers fave tradition at TIFF, Mongrel Media is hosting its 3rd annual week-long interactive pop-up party at Toronto’s historical Campbell House.
I popped my TIFF party cherry at Mongrel House, impressed by the diverse selection of dishes offered by Toronto’s own historic St. Lawrence Market set up under white tents in the backyard, hilarious Karaoke complete with a live backup band on the second floor, a basement hosting DIY s’mores making station where marshmallows were toasted over booming fire and an old-timey Bulleit Bourbon Bar complete with shoe shining station.
Late into the night guests gathered on the front lawn, sipping bottles of Steam Whistle as the main stage filled the corner of University and Queen Street with the sweet sound of saxophones, trumpets and angelic music. To the right of the main stage was a slick Lamborghini, on hand to commemorate the launch of its newest supercar the Aventador S.
Hosted from Thursday Sept., 7 to the 13th, Mongrel House serves as “a hub for a series of events hosted by Mongrel Media, in celebration of the distributors’ films premiering at TIFF.” The theme of this year’s festival has been modeled after Harley Valentine’s Terrazzo Tower. The grounds aim to reflect the inner workings of the artist’s mind “with grotesque sculptures dancing throughout the different activation spaces.” One of the most interesting visual aspects of the space were poring over the work of Serbian Canadian artist Viktor Mitic, whose sculptures and paintings on display inside were both terrifying and poignant.
For this TIFF newbie it was clear the who’s who of the festival circuit visit Mongrel House each night to let loose while networking in style under the stars.
By Devin Jones
