After attending last year's first German Fetish Ball weekend, I was curious to see how this year's event would evolve and grow. While I didn't attend all the events the weekend had to offer, I was pleasantly surprised by some of the improvements and progress that made this year more enjoyable.

The events kicked off on Friday afternoon with the "Fetish Fair and Expo." This year's fair was held in a larger but less interesting space: Columbiahalle near Berlin's Templehof airport. Admittedly, it was a bit of a shame to trade last year's architecturally unique venue for a simple black-walled concert hall, but the quality and quantity of the vendors at this year's expo more than made up for it.

Labels from all over the world, new and old gathered for two days to exhibit their wares and make new contacts. American label Fierce Couture and local designer Heidi of Savage Wear both made their fetish expo debuts to an overwhelmingly positive response. Throughout the day, there were varied performances on the stage near the front of the hall that ranged from Fetishuniverse's fashion show, to intricate bondage demonstrations, to somewhat cheesy stripper performances that seemed a little contrived and a bit out of place.

The fair also included an art exhibition, featuring the works of photographers like Martin Pelzer, Eric Martin, Philip Warner, Thomas Van de Scheck and artist Rachael Huntington. All works were hanging in a small upstairs balcony area that wasn't very well publicized, so I fear that not many attendees even realized there was a gallery show at all -- a shame considering the talents of those involved!

On the same floor, there was also a supposed "model zone" where models and photographers were meant to meet up to shoot and network, but many didn't realize that existed either -- I myself didn't notice the signs until the expo was loading out!

One thing I noticed about the event this year were a few mini-gatherings that cropped up around the main publicized events, most notably To.mTo's "Corset Party" that took place at an East Berlin restaurant and lounge. Partially a pre-opening party in celebration of the opening of To.mTo's new store -- dozens of corset lovers gathered here all trussed up to converse with new and old friends and dine and drink cocktails until the wee morning hours. The party served as a fitting meet-and-greet affair for those who wanted to simply chill out before the main events.


The main offering Friday night was the pre-party at Berlin's famous Kit Kat Klub. While this party was not exclusive to the event (meaning that people who were not part of the German Fetish Ball were also in attendance), it served up quite a bit of pervy fun! Mostly a techno dance club, there were also areas designated for play and performance. The evening included several S&M themed shows and even a good, old-fashioned onstage fisting. I'm told that the legendary club is always a "sight to behold" and that anyone with un-pure tendencies should be sure to visit at least once while in Berlin.

 

Saturday was part two of the Fair and there were triple the amount of people in attendance, which made the 2nd day more fun and lively -- I spent almost six hours at the expo and the time just flew by. Around every corner was a familiar face or some "shiny new thing" that sparked my attention.

Directly after the fair was Xklusiv's Fetish Dinner -- not being a performer and willing to pay the €110 per person for the meal, I opted out of it. Burlesque performer Dee Dee Luxe did a hot little act which I heard utilized an ejaculating dildo and THE Fetish Diva Midori rigged and suspended Kumi to a large crane, where she was raised above all of the diners -- a truly decadent and astonishing site to behold I'd imagine! It also holds the record of being the first fetish dinner I didn't hear one complaint about, so apparently both the performances and food were well worth the high price!

There were two club offerings for Saturday night -- the mysterious White Club and the GFB play party at the Darkside Club. I was more intrigued by the White Club since there was such an aura of mystery about the venue. It's usually a private member's only club and for attendance during the ball, you had to have tickets or ask one of the organizers where the club was located.

I arrived at the venue via taxi in the pouring rain and immediately thought I was at the wrong place -- I was in a residential area and there weren't any signs signifying that there was a club anywhere around!!! Luckily I had called one of the organizers, who let me know to walk through a corridor to get to the venue -- and sure enough, once I got through the alley, there was a gentleman in a tux motioning me into an elevator.

The elevator opened into a reception area where there was a woman wearing nothing but a corset who led us in. Immediately I realized that the White Room wasn't really a club but a private residence! There wasn't much happening on the reception floor -- just a coatroom and another area where a few people were playing. It just seemed…empty. My fiancé and I started to get nervous that we came a long way to go to a party where we knew no one! We then realized that the actual White Room was two stories downstairs.

The room itself was interesting -- everything was completely white and bathed in an eerie blue light. S&M and porno films that had been shot at the club played projected on one of the walls. I ran into quite a few friends downstairs, but most people were more than a little bit disappointed that it wasn't actually a club night. Many went there with the notion that it would be a dance night, since the party at Darkside was billed as the "play event." But disappointment aside, once you get enough well-dressed pervs liquored up, things start to look better, and the night turned into a great lounge event, with many staying until the wee hours of the morning, when we were all kicked out by a lack of music and a harsh glare of white light.

Sunday was the final day of the event, culminating in the Fetish Ball at the Matrix Club, which is situated in the brick stone arches of the Warschauer Platz U Bahn station, making it a unique labyrinth-like underground venue. Fetish Diva Midori was host and MC for the night, and things really kicked off with the fashion shows around midnight.

Debuting her new line, Heidi of Savage Wear was the first to take the stage with an elaborate multi-part show that included a wide range of different styles: 1960's pin up outfits, Geisha-inspired Japanese dresses, clubby cyberwear, and elaborate fantasy corsets -- there was even a mini fire-performance. Tressa of Fierce Couture followed with elaborate gowns and accessorized some of her models with decorative rope bondage that accented the dresses perfectly.

Other shows included British veteran Libidex showing off his newest catsuit designs and Stateside favorite Vex, with her new burlesque-inspired ensembles. The models for the shows were a wide variety of fetish stars as well as recent newcomers who traveled from all over the globe to strut down the catwalk--for a full list of models and performers at the club you can click here for details.

After the fashion shows came the performance portion of the evening. Lydia Morgan and Morrigan Hel were slated to debut their new act at the ball, but a minor car accident in the UK sadly kept Morrigan from attending. Lydia changed the performance a bit and enlisted the help of another model to do Morrigan's part, engaging in an elaborate mind-game of "Who's really on top?", that the audience readily enjoyed. Midori and Kumi did another bondage performance and Mathias Grimme of Bondage Project also did a bondage installation.

The music at this year's ball was excellent, and my favorite area to dance and cut loose was the tiny little room near the back of the club that quickly became an inferno, with DJs Allen from Torture Garden in London and Tiziano from Club Ritual in Rome. With multiple rooms, there was a variety of music styles: 80s and 90s, hard house, techno and goth/industrial/ebm. Everyone was sure to find a room that suited their musical taste.

The Ball itself focused on dancing and fashion, so there wasn't a play area designated at the event. In lieu of a play area, the Darkside club was offering their venue for play during and after the ball, and I think once the Ball started to slow down, all the heavy players were happy to head over.

This year's German Fetish Ball was definitely a marked improvement over last year's effort, with more diverse offerings, a tighter schedule, better organization and communication. It's refreshing to see organizers in mainland Europe putting on more event weekends. In a few years, the German Fetish Ball just might begin to rival some of its long-term predecessors.