After a long dry spell, with little to no socializing permitted, avid cyclist and dance enthusiast Henry James is aiming to get people moving on Saturday, June 19. He’s doing this by hosting the Summer Solstice Night Ride & Dance Party – “an all-night celebration that includes a bike ride, dance party, and more at mystery locations.”
“I want to celebrate summer, celebrate life, returning to a new normal,” said James, lead organizer of the festivities. “Hopefully throughout this pandemic we’ve all had a chance to pause and reflect, to be grateful. We have an opportunity to return to the world renewed. There’s darkness in the world, and there’s also hope. Many of us are moving toward a more compassionate, less ego-driven way of life. A revolutionary way of being. As Emma Goldman famously said, ‘If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be in your revolution.’”
The Summer Solstice Night Ride & Dance Party will include a gathering for cocktails and mocktails at sunset, before embarking upon a bike ride to a “secret location,” which will be announced on the day of the event. Once gathered together at that to-be-announced destination, revelers will be able to enjoy a fire, while being entertained by a fire-spinning performance. The evening will also include a “brief, collective solstice ritual,” which will set the mood for the evening while “bringing good vibes for the summer and beyond.”
But that’s not all. The final bike ride will wind up at another to-be-announced location, where cyclists will get a chance to dance the rest of the night away, thanks to tunes being dropped by DJs U-lock, McGroove, and Ellen Degenerate of the Satellite of Love collective. This dance segment will carry forth until the sun rises.
Geoff Kowalow, aka DJ Ellen Degenerate, had this to say about the event: “Dancing from dusk until dawn is a way for us to celebrate a new beginning for all of us. As the last year and a half has been tumultuous in different ways for each of us, we can release some of the tension together, and promote spiritual healing the same way people have been doing for centuries: by dancing to a drum beat for hours. We’ll end the night by saying hello to a new day, a new summer, a new opportunity to prosper.”
For anyone wanting to skip the bike ride and go to the dance party, the location will be announced the night of the event. More information is on Facebook, tickets are on sale through Eventbrite for $10. Tickets will be available at the door.