It's about time I talked Quinky - Canberra's queer and kinky weekend of learning, experiencing, and obtaining which was held earlier this year on 25-26 March at  Flazéda Hub in Belconnen, Canberra. 

Quinky is the brainchild of Kell and Mel, two community minded queer kinksters with a decade-long history of involvement in various events and community activities including Hunter RXX, Nightmare in Wax, the Womens Kink Collective, Newcastle Polyamory and more. 

Together this intrepid duo decided to create a space for the queer and kinky folk of Canberra with the aim of empowering people to practice safe and inclusive kink on their own terms. When they got in contact with me and their event outline material included the sentence "Well, what we can say is that it's set to be a delicious and decadent, demonstrative and downright divine weekend for our Canberran kinky honeys" I was sold on the awesome alliteration alone :)

Let's look back and see what transpired...

The Quinky event organisers Kell and Mel, beautifully illustrated by Mayticks who also designed the Quinky logo.

After securing a fine array of workshop hosts, performers and kink artisans, tickets for the event went on sale on the 1st of February... and sold out in one day! In all my years of attending kink events I am not aware of anything like this occurring before. It certainly speaks volumes for the Quinky marketing department (ie. Kell and Mel) and the level of support the Canberra community is willing to show towards new and untested events.

If you missed out on a ticket to Quinky you could always join the waiting list, or try your luck at a ticket machine... 

Learn...

Quinky opened on Saturday 25th March with a panel discussion followed by six workshops over two days focussing on foundational  knowledge and skills. The workshops covered a wide range of subjects from consent to candle wax. Unfortunately I was unable to attend any of the workshops but the feedback and comments I received over the weekend from newcomers and those with some previous experience was universally positive. 

The Quinky workshop hosts - Mistress Tokyo, Manaqine, Joker Madness, Succubus & Noxious Blossom, Glass Butterflies

Experience...

A play party on Saturday night provided the opportunity to practice some of those newfound skills in a safe space for play and exploration. Compared with most kink parties there was a much larger proportion of people attending their first ever event, and the night was structured to make it particularly welcoming for those stepping into this new world for the first time.

There were three fabulous performances during the party as well as plenty of play amongst guests. A key element for the success of a newbie-friendly event is that those who choose not to play have just as good an evening as those who do. After talking to several guests the next day this aspect of the Quinky party really shone through in their comments. Everyone enjoyed their night from newbies to veterans, as well as active players and those preferring to socialise or just watch and soak up the atmosphere.

The Quinky play party performers - Rinally Duo, Jazida Burlesqe, Mistress Tokyo

Obtain...

Sunday kicked off with a kink market. Eight artisans from the kink community, myself included brought a plethora of creative goodness together to help fill the kinky toyboxes of Canberra. 

The higher than average number of guests who were relatively new to kink meant many interesting questions during the day. One fascinating conversation stemmed from my being asked whether it is possible to tell how stiff a cane is solely from its appearance. My answer was that diameter is the primary determinant of stiffness. Aside from that there are limited tell-tale signs related to the varying appearance of different rattan species but that within a given species you can't normally tell the stiff pieces from the bendy pieces just by looking at them. Stay tuned for a whole blog post about this subject at some point.

The Quinky Perfect Sunday Market artisans - Glass Butterflies Leather, Miss Emm (that's me!), Mayticks, Shibari Stuff, Bearded Octopus Alternative Craftsman, Resin Deadly Sins, Nightmare in Wax, and Leather by Hadrian.

An alcohol free event

The entire Quinky weekend was alcohol free. This is not at all unusual for talks and workshops, but it is quite rare in Australia for play parties within the kink community to be entirely alcohol free. 

If I may editorialise for a moment - Alcohol is consumed at the majority of kink play parties in Australia and is for the most part done so in moderation and without ill effect. However, this does not mean alcohol should be considered a necessary component of the play party experience, especially for those participating in some form of play. If you can't enjoy your kink without a drink you should probably ask yourself why. I've yet to hear a convincing answer. 

The organisers Kell and Mel deserve a great deal of credit both for making the decision to run an alcohol free event and for how they communicated their decision to the community. Rather than paraphrase their reasoning here it is in full as previously published on their Quinky InstaFetFace pages.

"This is an important subject for us - one that we put a lot of thought into when discussing our intention for our event and the type of space that we wanted to create. Ultimately, the decision was a no-brainer - and here's why:

1. Our LGBTQIA+ community is at significantly higher risk of experiencing Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) dependency, and you may have noticed that while us queers throw one hell of a party, there is a definite shortage of events that are alcohol-free. 

2. This is an event that revolves around kink & BDSM practices. We want people to be able to engage and explore these experiences in an environment that supports safer decision making. While we know that no activity is ever 100% safe, it is about minimizing risks and prioritizing consent. 

3. We want a space where all people can safely participate. Your safety is our priority. You are welcome just as you are; we want you to navigate consent in a safe environment that supports you. We can't wait to see you at our party!"

Although Quinky was alcohol free there was some "Heaps Normal" 0% alcohol beer available. This would have to be one of the most Australian brand names of all time. Alas I can't report on its taste as cans of creaming soda were also available and my tastebuds stopped evolving when I was twelve so I stuck to the pink fizzy water!

A big success

After chatting to people during the event and reading many comments and discussions online afterwards it is my humble opinion that Quinky was an overwhelming success. I should also add that as a market stallholder I could not have been more impressed with the level of organisation that went into the event, both in the lead up and on the day. 

I would like to thank Kell and Mel and their dedicated team of volunteers for all their efforts, and I look forward to enjoying more Quinky in future years.

To learn more about Quinky have a scroll through their Instagram, Facebook, or Fetlife pages.