Simply Craving

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

It has been a fun-filled summer thus far for the team at the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper. Since the summer has started, I don’t believe that I have spent a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night at home yet, and I am sure our Account Executive Trish Browning can attest to this. We received an exclusive invite to an inclusive party called Crave that occurred on Saturday, June 29^th, 2019, at Ascott Park Event Centre, located at 2839 Rutherford Rd, in Vaughn, Ontario. I had never been to an inclusive party, so I had no idea what to expect; what I saw has changed my idea of partying forever.

Trish had arrived a little before I had, and she warned me that parking was crazy. We both managed to find a spot, and we made our way over to Ascott Park. I knew that it was already tun up because as I drove in, I could see people in one section of the park. As we approached the gates, we were greeted by one of the partners involved in throwing the event Alain Peter Arthur (host of Caribbean Vibrations), and he welcomed us warmly, told us where to collect our V.I.P. wristbands, and let us know that if there was anything that we needed to find him. Just for the record, we did not see Alain until the end of the night, but you will soon learn why.

Trish and I entered the gates and headed down the stairs into Ascott Park; the only word that I can think of using to describe what I felt initially was overwhelmed. I had not expected to see this; first of all, the grounds of the park are absolutely beautiful. It is 5 acres of beautiful gardens surrounded by an opulent conservation area. Every inch of the 5 acres was filled with beautiful people, dressed in the finest enjoying the music that was playing from all sides of the park. For a minute I just stood there and took it all in; it was truly an incredible sight.

The idea of Crave was brought to Canada after Alain and his partners experienced an all-inclusive event in Trinidad. I can’t state if they had experienced it at the same time, but whatever they had experienced had impacted them enough that they thought, what if we could do a party like this in Toronto. An all-inclusive party is a little tricky to pull off; in these parties, nothing is left out and everything including food and spirits are part of the evening’s package. With these type of parties, the people who are there have to be extremely mature because as you know, in some cases excessive spirit drinking can lead to problems. When they finally put thought to purpose on June 24^th, 2013, they reasoned that if they were going to avoid this type of issue, they would make it an invite only party. This way if there were any issues, one of the partners could deal with it personally.

Location, style, and budget are probably the most important factors when planning an event like this, and over time, GoodFellas Promo has evolved from their humble beginnings. The very first Crave had 200 attendees; eventually, it grew and they had to switch from their original venue The Beach House to Herongate Barn in Pickering, Ontario, and after a few more venue changes, they have settled in Ascott Park.

I had an opportunity to speak with Alain Arthur, and he gave me the inside scoop on the evolution of Crave. “One of the best Crave’s ever was in 2015. To some, it would have been a disaster because they had called for a thunderstorm and boy did we get some rain. I think it was that day that people in Toronto recognized that the GoodFellas Promotional Team was no joke. Despite the rain, we threw an awesome party. We set up tents and actually valet parked all the guests that came. Yes, we lost money on the event, but it was the impact that made the difference. Our overall goal is for people to come out and have a good time, and they did. A Crave party in Toronto is as good as it gets.”

If you missed out on Crave this year, no worries; the GoodFellas team has two more parties this summer: On Caribana Sunday, GoodFellas presents DEJEUNER- The Ultimate Food Inclusive Brunch Lime, which will be held on Caribana Sunday at the Birches, and Girls Gone Wine, which is held during Labour Day weekend. Information for both events can be found on Eventbrite. Hands down, Crave was one of the most upscale, classy and overall spectacular events I have gone to in a long time; kudos to the GoodFellas team; you have me craving for more.